BELLEVUE WOMEN TAKE 2ND AT SKAGIT VALLEY TOURNAMENT
December 17, 2012

Chanel Cambronero was named to the All-Tourney Team at the Skagit Tourney this past weekend. photo by Rich Dworkis

On Friday, Dec. 28, the Bellevue Bulldogs women’s basketball team traveled to Mount Vernon to participate in the three-day Skagit Valley Tournament, the last opportunity to tune up for the regular season which starts in January.

First up for the Bulldogs were the Clippers of South Puget Sound. The Bulldogs started out fast, getting an early lead in the game 12-2, and continued to keep the pressure on to extend their lead into half time 49-16. In the second half, Bellevue delivered more of the same, finishing the contest with a 98-32 win, moving on to the tournament semi-finals. Leading the way for the Bulldogs was sophomore Demarea Caples with 20 points, Jori Hall added 15, and sophomore point guard Chanel Cambronero added seven points to go with seven assists and four steals.

On Saturday, the Bulldogs faced Spokane for the third time in the pre-season. Bellevue had come up short the first two meetings against the
Sasquatch, with losses in the Everett Tournament 63-58, and at the Lane Crossover Tournament, 65-59. On both occasions, the Bulldogs found themselves down at the half by 15 and 17, respectively. This game would be different for the Bulldogs who jumped out to an early lead and maintained a slight advantage at the half, 32-30. In the second half, the Bulldogs continued a strong defense and outscored Spokane 33-24, notching the victory with a final score of 65-54. The Bulldogs were once again led by Caples with 17 points, Kaitlynn Bunger who added 13, and Cambronero who chipped in nine. Hall once again drew the tough defensive match-up, putting in a tremendous effort in 35 minutes on Spokane’s best player, and AC Den Hartog led the Bulldogs with eight rebounds.

The Tournament Championship played Sunday, Dec. 30, found the Bulldogs matched up against Douglas College out of British Columbia. Once again, Bellevue came out hot on the boards and taking an early lead, but the Royals from Douglas came back and the Bulldogs found themselves trailing at the half, 25-23. In the second half, the two teams traded baskets and the Bulldogs found themselves trailing by three with only six seconds left on the clock. The Bulldogs stepped up, executed the play perfectly, got a good look to tie, but the shot fell short and Bellevue fell 47-44 in the Championship game.  It was clear that playing three days in a row after five days off for Christmas left the Bulldog legs tired in the final game. Bellevue head coach, Brent Hermanson, said, “Our women did their best to overcome fatigue, but it was just too much and, unfortunately, we came up short.”  Alexis Berrysmith and Caples led the team in rebounding at seven each, while Caples and Tayler Flemming led the team in scoring with 12 and 10, respectively.  Demarea Caples and Chanel Cambronero were both named to the All-Tournament Team.

Next up, the Bulldogs (7-6) host the Olympic Rangers (0-10) on Saturday, Jan. 5, in the gym at the Courter Family Athletic Pavilion on the Bellevue campus, kicking off North Region play. Tip-off is 4:00 p.m. We hope to see you there!