Tonasket sophomore Damon Halvorsen makes a layup shot against Cascade Christian during the Tigers first game at the Brewster Tournament on Tuesday, Dec. 29. Photo by John Cleveland, II

BREWSTER – The Tonasket boys’ basketball team is looking for a league win after losing two non-league games during the Brewster Tournament on Tuesday, Dec. 29 and Wednesday, Dec. 30.

The Tigers’ first game during the tournament was an 83-32 loss to Cascade Christian High School on Dec. 29. Sophomore John Stedtfeld led the team in scoring with nine points, shooting three for eight from the field and making one of two freethrows while junior Colton Ayers made five points, shooting one for four from the field and making all three of his freethrow attempts. Juniors Corbin Moser and Zach Neal each had four points as well; Moser shot one for eight from the field and made one of two free throws while Neal shot two for seven from the field.

“Cascade Christian is a really good team,” Glenn Braman, head coach, said. “They’ve got a lot of nice-sized guys who play really well together. They pressed us a lot and we had too many turnovers. That’s been our Achilles Heel lately. We’ve got to stop turning over the ball and we’re working on it.”

Braman said the Tigers were 11 for 41 from the field, an almost 25 shooting percentage while Cascade Christian were 35 for 61 from the field, an over 50 percent shooting percentage.

“If they had shot 25 percent and we had shot 50 percent, it would have been a closer game,” Braman said. “We have to shoot better, take care of the ball better and make more attempts.”

The second game of the tournament was a 59-45 loss to Pateros on Dec. 30. Stedtfeld led the team in scoring with 16 points, shooting four for 18 from the field and making three of five freethrows while Ayers had 14 points after shooting six for seven from the field and making two of three freethrows. Moser added seven points, shooting three for 10 from the field.

“We had 51 attempts against Pateros and Pateros made 25 of 65 attempts, there’s the difference right there,” Braman said. “Pateros turned over the ball eight times and we turned over 21 times. It’s a combination of letting the other team have too many offensive rebounds and us turning over the ball too much. When we’re not shooting the ball as well as our opponent, the math speaks for itself.”

As of press time, the Tigers (0-2, 2-8) had not yet played away against Okanogan on Tuesday, Jan. 5. Their next game is on Saturday, Jan. 9 at 7:30 against Cashmere at home.

“It’s not just struggling to win, it’s struggling to compete,” Braman said. “We’re struggling to compete because we’re not getting up enough shots and we’re giving up too many offensive rebounds. We’re in a pretty unforgiving league and you’ve got to strap up your bootlaces and make it matter or you have to stop and ask yourself ‘why am I doing this?'”