By Don Nelson
The Liberty Bell High School girls’ basketball season hangs in the balance on Friday (Feb. 16) when the Lady Lions take on a familiar foe in the District 5/6 2B tournament.
After losing to Mabton, 69-37, in the opening round of district play last weekend, Liberty Bell will face Tonasket in a loser-out game at Granger High School, with tipoff at 2:15 p.m. To advance to the regional tournament, the Lady Lions will have to get past Tonasket on Friday, and then on Saturday (Feb. 17) beat the winner of a game between Brewster and DeSales.
Two wins would give Liberty Bell fifth place and a trip to regional play in Spokane on Feb. 23 – 24. A win at the regional tournament would send the Lady Lions back to Spokane for the state tournament beginning Feb. 28.
Liberty Bell head coach Ed Smith said that in the loss to Mabton, “we actually played better than the score showed. But we had too many unforced errors — double-dribbles, bad passes, traveling. That cost us.”
Smith tried some different combinations on the court including freshmen Destiny Ferreira and Sammy Curtis, who together scored nearly half of Liberty Bell’s points. Ferreira had 11 points and Curtis added 7. Senior Lauren Ochoa had 8 points.
Liberty Bell faced Tonasket twice in league play, losing 50-37 on the road but then beating the Tigers 51-34 at home thanks to an improved defense. The Lady Lions ended the regular season on a five-game winning streak that clinched second place in the CW2B league behind Brewster. Liberty Bell is now 12-9 on the season.
Last year (2016 – 17), Liberty Bell lost in the first round of the district playoffs.
Mabton 69, Liberty Bell 37
Destiny Ferreira 11, Lauren Ochoa 8, Sammy Curtis 7, Katie Labanauskas 4, Tommie Ochoa 3, Carlynn Treise 2, Ali Palm 2
