Undefeated Bears cage Lions, rout Goats

BREWSTER – The undefeated Bears varsity basketball team remains tied with Lake Roosevelt at the top of the Central Washington B league after posting a 36-point win over Liberty Bell, 89-53, at home Dec. 17. Brewster and the Raiders are each 4-0 in the CW2B as the teams head into the holiday break.

The Mountain Lions have been struggling in the early season with only a single league win over Waterville-Mansfield. Brewster capitalized on the home court advantage to take a 12-point lead in the first quarter and build on it through the next three quarters. 

“Liberty Bell did many good things against us throughout the game, including hitting some timely sots and keeping possessions alive with offensive rebound and hustle,” said head coach Michael Taylor. “We used a variety of defenses in the first half and capitalized on some turnovers and transition points.”

Kelson Gebbers led Brewster’s scoring with 25 points, Connor Ashworth added 20 on 10-11 shooting, Ubaldo Arellano canned 12 and Kade Kelpman 10. Corey Jarrell and Adaih Najera scored 8 points apiece, and Ricky Garcia hit for 6.

“Our guards did a good job of advancing the ball up court and looking inside early and often,” said Taylor. “When we get the ball in to 10 feet or closer via pass or drive good happen for us.”

Brewster will face Seattle Academy at the Wilbur-Ellis SunDome Shootout at the Yakima SunDome at 6 p.m., Friday, Dec. 27. The following day they play Overlake at 1:30 p.m. in the SunDome.

“We need to be better on the glass, capitalize on hustle plays and convert on turnovers,” said Taylor. “Overall we competed, improved and won, which basically is what everyone is trying to do.”

Brewster: 24-21-24-20  89

LBHS: 12-17-11-13  53

Chelan falls

The Bears had to work for their win in the final two quarters of their non-league game against the Chelan Goats of the 1A Caribou Trail League last Friday, Dec. 20. Kelson Gebbers controlled the opening tip and Jarrell scored a three-pointer to start the quarter. Chelan quickly tied with a trey of its own, but the Goats never got closer than that for the remainder of the game.

Brewster took the momentum into the halftime locker room with a 31-16 lead over Chelan and picked up where it left off early in the third quarter with an 18-point, 34-16, at its greatest margin. The Goats then amped up on both the defensive and offensive to cut that lead to 8 points, 48-40 at the end of the third.

With just shy of four minutes remain in the fourth quarter Chelan closed to within three, 56-53, and appeared to have the tempo and time to pull out a win. A timely drive and score Bears guard Adaih Najera and two technical fouls against the Goats turned the tide back in Brewster’s favor as Ashworth converted four of the free throws and Cade Gebbers added a pair to put the Bears back on top by 10. The Brewster rally was enough to close the door with a half-minute remaining on the clock.

“We didn’t do a very good job in the first half being aggressive on either side of the ball,” said Goats head coach Jeff Pearl. “I thought we settled for too many outside shots which didn’t put any pressure on (Brewster) to guard us.

While Pearl said his team picked up the pace in the second half the Goats only hit 14 percent of their shots beyond the arc during the game.

“Yet, we were right there in the end,” said Pearl. “The difference was not keeping our composure when the game got tight and getting out-rebounded.”

Goats senior guard and team captain Connor Wilson connected for his 1,000th point during the third quarter against the Bears. Wilson has averaged 22.5 points per game in his first five games of the season for Chelan. Wilson scored 17 points against Brewster.

Jarrel led all scorers with 23 points, Ashworth and Cade Gebbers hit in double figures with 12 and 11 points respectively.  

Brewster will face Seattle Academy at the Wilbur-Ellis SunDome Shootout at the Yakima SunDome at 6 p.m., Friday, Dec. 27. The following day they play Overlake at 1:30 p.m. in the SunDome.

“We need to be better on the glass, capitalize on hustle plays and convert on turnovers,” said Taylor. “Overall we competed, improved and won, which basically is what everyone is trying to do.”

Brewster: 17-15-19-22  72

Chelan: 11-5-24-20  60