Liberty Bell’s Isaiah Stoothoff penetrated Lake Roosevelt’s defense.
In a battle for the No. 1 spot in the boys’ Central Washington 2B basketball league, the Lake Roosevelt Raiders came out on top over the host Liberty Bell Mountain Lions on Friday (Jan. 27) in the Lions’ Den, 67-55.
It was a back-and-forth struggle of wills that saw the Raiders jump out to an early 21-8 lead at the end of the first quarter, then Liberty Bell storming back for a two-point halftime lead, 30-28. The Raiders outscored Liberty Bell 39-25 in the second half, riding a third-quarter three-point barrage by junior Chase Marchand and some late fourth-quarter free throw accuracy to post the win.
The second half opened up with Mountain Lions Sawyer Crandall and Kyler Mitchell each blocking shots, but the pesky Raiders still managed to pull even at 30, and then again at 32. Remy Paz found his sophomore brother Lucien open in the right corner for a three-point shot to give the Mountain Lions a 35-32 lead, but that would be the last lead for the home team as the Raiders worked to a 43-38 advantage. Liberty Bell battled back to trail 47-44, but couldn’t get closer.
Marchand’s 25 points led a trio of Raiders in double figures. Remy Paz was the only Mountain Lion in double figures with 21. The Raiders hit 66% on 20 of 30 free throws, 14 of those coming on 17 attempts in the fourth quarter. Liberty Bell sank 8 of 10 free throws for the game.
Playoff primer
With the new tiered system of scheduling in the CW2B League, the Mountain Lions clinched the No. 4 seed into Districts as the top team in Tier 2 with their 80-17 win over Bridgeport on Tuesday. They will host the (as yet to be determined) No. 5 seed in the first round of district play this Saturday (Feb. 4) at Liberty Bell. That opponent looks to be either Okanogan or Tonasket, pending the outcome of this week’s Tuesday games. Bridgeport and Manson tangle Tuesday evening for the sixth and final spot into districts.
The tiers were determined by last season’s placing in the league’s regular season standings with Brewster, Lake Roosevelt, Okanogan and Tonasket in Tier 1. Liberty Bell, Manson, Bridgeport and Oroville filled out Tier 2.
With the first round coming up this Saturday, look for these as highest-probability match-ups: No. 6 Manson at No. 3 Tonasket and No. 5 Okanogan at No. 4 Liberty Bell. Round two will be next Wednesday, Feb. 8, at Omak High School when the two winners will move on to face the top two seeds in a double header. With a win in round one, the Mountain Lions are guaranteed two more games, Feb. 8 and Feb. 11 at Omak, for the right to move on to the District 6&7 crossover the following week.
Girls basketball
The Mountain Lion girls had a little tougher go of it, dropping league games at Bridgeport, 44-35, and at home to Lake Roosevelt, 72-15, and a non-league rematch with Quincy at Liberty Bell 51-41 on Thursday (Jan. 26).
Freshman guard Helaina Remsberg went down with an ankle injury in the Quincy game and ended up sitting out the Lake Roosevelt contest on Friday. Coach Korrie Bourn expected her back in the lineup in time for Oroville on Tuesday night (Jan. 31).
Rebounding seemed to be a highlight this past week as the girls look to make gains in their play both offensively and defensively. In losses to both Bridgeport and Quincy, the Mountain Lions had an advantage on the boards, 35-30 over the Fillies and 35-28 on the Jackrabbits. Sandra Hernandez led the Lions with 18 rebounds in the two games.
“I was really happy with our game against Quincy,” said Bourn. “We had a little letdown to start the third quarter which got us into a bit of a hole, but we recovered and didn’t let the game get completely away from us, keeping it within reach. We continue to improve and become better players individually and as a team.”
For the Mountain Lion Girls it’s a little more complicated just to get into the first round of playoffs. With Oroville and Bridgeport tied for the top two Tier 2 spots at 3-5, one of them needs to lose two games. They faced each other on Monday evening, the Fillies besting the Hornets 57-45 and creating a win-and-you’re-in scenario for Liberty Bell Tuesday night.
With a Mountain Lion win, Oroville and Liberty Bell will be tied for the sixth and final spot. Head-to-head being the tie breaker, if the Mountain Lions won on Tuesday over Oroville, a play-in game would be scheduled for Thursday at Brewster to determine the 6th seed. The winner of the play-in will travel to either Lake Roosevelt or Tonasket on Saturday, that match-up also to be determined by Tuesday’s results as the Raiders entertain the Tigers to settle the score, and the standings.
Coaches don’t usually show their hands when it comes to playoff prognostication, but Bourn wasn’t holding back. “I’m hoping Bridgeport pulls off the win at Oroville so we have a chance to force the play-in game. We aren’t ready to be done, yet.” She got her wish on Monday.
It was up to the Mountain Lions, destiny in their own hands, to come up with the win on Tuesday. Check the Liberty Bell Booster Club Facebook page and Central Washington B Sports at www.cwbathletics.com for results and post-season details and schedules. If there is a play-in game between Oroville and Liberty Bell, it is tentatively set for Thursday evening at Brewster High School.
Mat matters
Liberty Bell eighth-grader Yolo Paz again wrestled his way through a strong field of high school grapplers in the 126-pound class, this time claiming the title at the Bulldog Invitational at Okanogan High School last Saturday (Jan. 28). Paz defeated Bryar Jensen of host school Okanogan in an 18-4 major decision, then took the measure of Tonasket senior Matthew Donaglia in a 9-8 battle, and defeated Okanogan freshman Timber Super win, 9-8, in the championship bout after storming back from 8-1 deficit.
Yolo Paz and coach Kyle Erickson celebrated Yolo’s victory at Okanogan.
Coach Kyle Erickson has been high on Paz since the opening practices this year. “We decided we would bump him up to varsity on the high school team this year,” said Erickson in December. “We felt wrestling at the high school level would be good for him. The challenge will keep him engaged, and with his skill level, he should do well.”
The District 6 tournament looms next at Lake Roosevelt High School in Coulee Dam this coming weekend and the young Mountain Lion has placed himself square in the conversation at the top of the bracket with his two wins over league rivals Donaglia and Super.
Cassidy Jones-Mowen added some more hardware to her personal trophy case with a 2nd place at the Bring Home Da’ Beef tournament at Quincy last Saturday. The Liberty Bell sophomore female wrestler, who two weeks ago breezed through to a tournament title in Yakima and placed 6th in a 36- wrestler field at Othello last weekend, held her own, taking down Cashmere senior Keelauna Lloyd in a major decision 15-2, and pinning another Bulldog opponent at 3:23 in the second round of that quarterfinal bout to move into the semi-finals.
In the semis, Jones-Mowen faced junior Leslie Sanchez-Guerrera of Ephrata and put her shoulder to the mat at the 3:55 mark in the bout’s second round. In the final she ran into Madison Kiemle of Goldendale, sporting a 25-3 record on the season and an obvious choice to do well at the upcoming Mat Classic State Tournament in mid-February. Kiemele had made mincemeat of her bracket, winning two matches by first round falls, both a mere minute in. The Timberwolf senior won by fall but Jones-Mowen made her work for it, lasting through most of the three-round match.
Also at Okanogan, Andy Garcia-Lopez of Liberty Bell wrestled at 138 pounds, winning his first match against Heribeto Martinez (Tonasket) with a pin at 1:44, but then dropping his next two, a fall to Chad Busching of Okanogan and a 9-5 decision to Omak’s Andrew Ratliff. Lukus Vera Mendoza had a rough go at 195 pounds, losing his first match by fall at 3:48 to Marvin Valdez of Manson, then a third-round fall to Daniel Guererro of Cascade (Leavenworth).
Sophomore Damien Spears wrestled in the 220-pound class and battled valiantly in his first round bout with Darrington’s Kade West. West is thought to be a possible podium placer at the WIAA Mat Classic this year. Spears gave him all he could handle in the tournament opener, eventually losing 5-2. Spears then had to face his old nemesis from Tonasket, Granger Sutton, in the consolation round semi-finals, getting pinned in the third round to the eventual 3rd-place winner.
Next up for Liberty Bell’s mat men is the District 6 Tournament at Lake Roosevelt this Saturday (Feb. 4). The tourney gets underway at 10 a.m.
Jones-Mowen will travel again to Quincy for the girls’ District 6 sub-regional tournament on Saturday. State qualifiers happen the weekend of Feb. 10-11. The boys travel to Reardan and Jones-Mowen heads for Spokane’s Rogers High School.
