Liberty Bell defenders – from left, Ali Palm, Hailey Damman and Madison Surface – converged around Bridgeport’s Yareli Palacio after a rebound.
A late-game outburst turned what had been a tight contest into a 58-39 win for the Liberty Bell High School girls’ basketball team over visiting Bridgeport on Dec. 18.
The Lady Lions’ inconsistent play through three quarters let the Fillies keep it close. Liberty Bell was up 14-12 after the first quarter, 25-22 at halftime and 35-30 after three quarters.
The Lady Lions actually trailed, 30-28, just before the third quarter ended. The momentum then switched dramatically as Liberty Bell finished the quarter with a seven-point final minute that included baskets by junior Hailey Damman, junior Ali Palm and sophomore Sammy Curtis.
The Lady Lions started the final quarter with a 17-2 explosion against the tiring Fillies that put the home team up by 20, 52-32. A flurry of baskets by Curtis, Palm, freshman Jadyn Mitchell, junior Tommie Ochoa and junior Hannah Bakke wore down Bridgeport.
Mitchell and Curtis each put up 15 points to lead Liberty Bell’s scoring. Mitchell had eight rebounds, and Curtis grabbed nine rebounds and had four steals. Palm added 10 points plus seven rebounds, giving the Lady Lions three double-figure scorers. Ochoa hit the boards for eight rebounds.
The victory gave Liberty Bell a 4-3 record for the season, 3-2 in league play. As of Dec. 18, the Lady Lions were fourth in the league behind Lake Roosevelt, Brewster and Waterville-Mansfield.
Liberty Bell played at Soap Lake on Friday (Dec. 21). Because of early deadlines for this issue of the Methow Valley News, results of that game will be reported in the Jan. 2, 2019 issue.
Over the Christmas break, the Lady Lions will take part in the Entiat Tournament, along with Bridgeport, Pateros and the host team, on Friday and Saturday (Dec. 27-28).
Liberty Bell 58, Bridgeport 39
Bridgeport 12 10 8 9 39
Liberty Bell 14 11 10 23 58
Jadyn Mitchell 15, Tommie Ochoa 6, Destiny Ferreira 4, Sammy Curtis 15, Ali Palm 10, Hailey Damman 3, Hannah Bakke 5, Madison Surface 0
Scoring through seven games: Jadyn Mitchell 99, Sammy Curtis 81, Tommie Ochoa 36, Ali Palm 36, Hannah Bakke 28, Hailey Damman 25, Madison Surface 24, Destiny Ferreira 21, Shae Taylor 6, Mckenna Ott 2
