Lady Tigers continue struggling

Tonasket junior Karen Keeton dribbles the ball down court while holding off a Brewster defender during Tonasket’s game in Brewster on Friday, Jan. 22. Photo by John F. Cleveland, II

Tonasket junior Karen Keeton dribbles the ball down court while holding off a Brewster defender during Tonasket’s game in Brewster on Friday, Jan. 22. Photo by John F. Cleveland, II

BREWSTER – A series of away games ended with another loss for the struggling Tonasket girls’ basketball team last week.

On Tuesday, Jan. 19, the Lady Tigers traveled to Omak where they lost 49-32.

“The girls came out as slow as they possibly could have and let them build a huge lead,” Stephanie Schertenleib, head coach, said. “They had a lot of turnovers and weren’t getting much production out of our offense considering we had five points at halftime. The good news was they came out and looked like a completely different team the second half. They really worked hustle and worked together which was great to see.”

She continued, saying the spark for the Tigers came from junior Karen Keeton, who took three offensive charges, had four points, six assists and four rebounds.

“I was very impressed with how she played, especially doing it on both ends of the court,” Schertenleib said.

Senior April Webber added 15 points for the Tigers and five rebounds.

On Friday, Jan. 22, the team traveled to Brewster where they lost 55-24.

“The girls did not play badly, they just got outplayed,” Schertenleib said. “Brewster added to the lead every quarter and we just weren’t able to make any runs on offense. We just had a difficult time scoring, they played good post defense and we didn’t capitalize on our outside shots.”

Junior Jerian Ashley had six points and three rebounds while Webber had six points and six rebounds for the Tigers.

As of press time, the Tigers (0-8, 1-14) had not yet played at home against Lake Roosevelt on Tuesday, Jan. 26. Their next game is in Chelan on Saturday, Jan. 30 at 6 p.m.

“I think we are making improvements, but it is really hard because we just aren’t getting any wins,” Schertenleib said. “It is really hard for anyone to win at Chelan, so we just need to work on our turnovers and get some offensive production. As far as Lake Roosevelt goes, they can compete with them if they choose to, but it is going to take playing a solid four quarters of good basketball. I hope they come ready to play.”