Brewster teams win second at District, advance to Regionals

By Mike Maltais

Staff writer

EAST WENATCHEE - The Brewster Bears' boys and girl's varsity basketball teams will advance to the round of Regional play this Friday, Feb. 24, despite District losses by the girls to Dayton, 55-40, and the boys to Kittitas, 84-78, last Saturday, Feb. 19.

Bears lead early

The Bears opened with close defense that disrupted the Coyotes' initial offense and allowed Brewster to jump to a 9-0 lead early in the first quarter behind seven points from senior guard Edgar Najera.

Brewster maintained its lead to the end of the quarter, 24-20, though Kittitas high-scorer, sophomore guard, Brock Ravet, was beginning to find his outer range with a pair of three pointers in the first. The Coyotes outscored Brewster 14-11 in the second quarter to enter the locker room one point down, 35-34.

The momentum turned in the third quarter as Ravet, following a single basket from the foul stripe, knocked down five shots from three-point range to help life Kittitas to a 26-point quarter and 10-point 60-50 lead over the Bears.

Free throws made the difference in the fourth quarter as both teams had more attempts from the foul stripe than in the previous three quarters combined. Bears sophomore guard, Joe Taylor hit six of seven as Brewster scored on 12 of 19 penalty shots in the final quarter. Kittitas connected on 17 or 28, with Ravet and teammate, Justin Hudson contributing for seven apiece.

Najera scored 19 points and Taylor, 21, to lead the Bears.

Ravet led all scorers with 41 points for the Coyotes.

Brewster, with a Rating Percentage Index (RPI) of 4, will play Northwest Christian, Colbert in Regional competition at 8 p.m., Friday, Feb. 24, at Eastmont High School.

The Ratings Percentage Index (RPI), adopted by the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) Basketball Tournament Committee this year, is a calculation based upon a team's win-loss record and strength of schedule, used to determine seeding for the 16 teams that qualify for state competition.

Kittitas, the state's top-ranked 2B team, has an RPI rating of 1, while Northwest Christian, Colbert is No. 5 on the RPI.

Lady Bears fall

The Lady Bears, ranked 13th in WIAA RPI standings, had their hands full against the No. 1 RPI Dayton Bulldogs in District play last Saturday.

Dayton got off to a fast start with an 11-point 20-9, first-quarter lead that they extended by four points, 35-20, at halftime.

Brewster rallied in the third quarter to outscore Dayton 16-7 in the third quarter to close within six points, 42-36, at the end of three.

The Bulldogs regrouped in the fourth quarter and rebuilt their lead back to 15 points at the buzzer.

Brewster will face White Swan, 15th in RPI rankings, in regional competition at 6 p.m. Friday, Feb. 24, in Eastmont.