Lady Bears dig deep, cage Tigers in 56-52 overtime win

By Mike Maltais

Staff writera

BRIDGEPORT - The Brewster Lady Bears rallied to erase a third-quarter, six-point deficit, catch a tough Tonasket Tigers team, force the Central Washington 2B League Championship game into a 49-49 overtime, and win the title, 56-52, in Bridgeport last Saturday, Feb. 11.

Behind the scoring of junior guard, Maret Miller, who sunk 11 points in the fourth quarter and five more in overtime, Brewster counterbalanced Tonasket's 22-point third-quarter surge that put the Tigers eight minutes away from the CWB league title.

Brewster took a one-point, 10-9 lead into the second quarter and was leading by five points, 22-17 at halftime thanks largely to four, three-pointers from Yvette Sanchez in the first half. When Tonasket took to the court in the third quarter, the Tigers' Kayla Willis, Ellie Alberts and Johnna Terris combined for four, three-pointers of their own that sparked a scoring punch double that of the Lady Bears.

Miller connected with four shots from the floor and three-of-seven from the foul line to help get the Lady Bears back into the game. With less than 30 seconds left in regulation play and Brewster trailing 48-49, Sanchez hit one of two free throws to knot the score at the end of regulation.

As Brewster inched ahead in the two-minute OT on a three-pointer from Miller, Tigers' fouls allowed the Lady Bears to put the game away with four more points from the free-throw line, the final one from Sammi Emigh

The Lady Bears' tenacity made up for low percentage shooting from the foul line all evening. Brewster hit 15 of 41 free throws while Tonasket connected on 16 of 26.

Terris and Alberts led Tonasket's scoring with 10 points each.

Brewster will play the Dayton Bulldogs of the Eastern Washington 2B League for the District 5/6 championship at 6 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 18, at Eastmont High School.

Liberty Bell falls

Brewster had an easier semi-final game against Liberty Bell at home, Friday, Feb. 10. The Lady Bears led 16-11 in the first quarter and 27-21 at halftime. The Mountain Lions closed to within four points, 38-34, at the end of the third quarter but the Lady Bears scored 20 in the fourth quarter to win going away, 58-44.

Sammi Emigh was the game's high scorer with 23 points.

Lauren Fitzmaurice led Liberty Bell with points.