Liberty Bell’s Ali Palm, No. 31, scored off an inbounds pass just before halftime to give the Lady Lions a 22-16 lead over Brewster, as Jadyn Mitchell (No. 5) and Madi Surface (No. 12) looked on. Surface and Palm each scored six points in the Liberty Bell win, while Mitchell led the Lady Lions in scoring with 11.
The last game the Liberty Bell High School girls’ basketball team lost this season was to Brewster in early December, 45-42 on the Lady Lions’ home court.
Liberty Bell turned the tables on the Lady Bears in the Brewster den with a 43-39 win on Jan. 18 — the tenth consecutive victory for the Lady Lions, who took control of second place in league play behind previously undefeated Brewster.
Beating Brewster anywhere has been difficult this season, let alone on its home court. Liberty Bell’s win puts it in position for favorable seeding in post-season play, especially if it wins out its final five league games — all against teams it has beaten this season. The Lady Lions were 9-2 in league play and 12-3 overall earlier this week.
Earlier last week, Liberty Bell smothered Tonasket with an oppressive defense for a 58-26 home court win.
Liberty Bell head coach Stephanie Miller said that against Brewster, the home team scored first but the Lady Lions answered with a three-pointer “and never looked back.”
“They [Liberty Bell] played pressure defense and didn’t let Brewster have open looks from the outside,” Miller said. “It was a whole team effort, and our bench has been playing great for us.”
Freshman Jadyn Miller had a solid all-around game for the Lady Lions, leading the scoring with 11 points, registering another double-double with 10 rebounds and blocking five shots. Junior Tommie Ochoa had eight points, junior Ali Palm had 6 and junior Hannah Bakke 5, along with eight rebounds. Coming off the bench, Madi Surface put up six points and grabbed five rebounds, and Destiny Ferreira scored five points and added seven rebounds.
Against Tonasket on Jan. 15, the Lady Lions scored 15 unanswered points before the Lady Tigers got on the board, thanks in part to three-pointers by Sammy Curtis and Hailey Damman. Liberty Bell built its lead to 29-10 at halftime. The Lady Lions scored 29 more in the second half and kept Tonasket working hard for any points, confronted by a Liberty Bell zone defense throughout the game.
Jadyn Mitchell topped all Liberty Bell scorers with 20 points, followed by Curtis with 13 and Surface with nine.
The Lady Lions were at Manson on Tuesday (Jan. 22), and travel to Bridgeport on Friday (Jan. 25).
Liberty Bell 58, Tonasket 26
Tonasket 2 8 10 6 26
Liberty Bell 15 14 16 13 58
Jadyn Mitchell 20, Madi Surface 9, Sammy Curtis 13, Ali Palm 6, Hailey Damman 5, Hannah Bakke 5
Tonasket JV 36, Liberty Bell JV 33
Mckenna Ott 11, Joslyn Rispone 8, Shelby Vintin 7, Shae Taylor 5, Caitlyn Cooley 2
Liberty Bell 43, Brewster 39
Jadyn Mitchell 11, Madi Surface 6, Ali Palm 6, Destiny Ferreira 5, Sammy Curtis 2, Tommie Ochoa 8, Hannah Bakke 5
Brewster JV 37, Liberty Bell JV 34
Mckenna Ott 10, Joslyn Rispone 7, Shelby Vintin 4, Naomi Carter 2, Shae Taylor 5, Caitlyn Cooley 6
Leading scorers after 15 games: Jadyn Mitchell 235, Sammy Curtis 192, Ali Palm 80, Madi Surface 78, Tommie Ochoa 65, Hannah Bakke 61, Destiny Ferreira 42, Hailey Damman 38, Shae Taylor 8, Mckenna Ott 2
