Tonasket senior April Webber handles the ball against Cascade Christian girls despite being double-teamed on Tuesday, Dec. 29. Photo by John Cleveland, II

BREWSTER – The Tonasket girls’ basketball team won their first game of the season during the Brewster Tournament on Tuesday, Dec. 29 and Wednesday, Dec. 30.

The first game of the tournament was played against Cascade Christian High School and the Tigers lost 63-30. Head Coach Stephanie Schertenleib said the scoring was spread out evenly among the varsity girls. Juniors Jerian Ashley and Jayden Hawkins led in scoring with six points each while senior April Webber and junior Michelle Timmerman had five points each. Junior Shelby Olma had four points and freshmen Devan Utt and Kelly Cruz had two points each. Timmerman led in rebounds with five.

The team’s first win of the season came against Pateros on the second day of the tournament when the Tigers won 43-40. Olma led the team with 12 points while Webber had 10 points. Schertenleib said the team had 16 steals, which is a season high.

“Overall, everybody that played contributed to the win in a positive way,” she said. “I felt the team played pretty well in the tournament. They continue to show improvement from game to game and that is really great to watch. Their defense is getting better, we are getting more aggressive, our turnovers are continuing to go down and I think they are beginning to gain a little confidence in themselves and each other.”

As of press time, the Tigers (0-2, 1-8) had not yet played away against Okanogan on Tuesday, Jan. 5. Their next game is on Saturday, Jan. 10 at home against Cashmere at 6 p.m.

“We are going to have some really challenging games this week but then again, every game is going to be challenging in this league,” Schertenleib said. “Okanogan is really talented all around and Cashmere has a couple girls in the post position that really hold their own. We will just have to concentrate on what we are doing and come in with a good defensive mind set.”