A little preparation

Ephrata topples Quincy, maintains its position in playoff standings

EPHRATA — After two blowouts in a row, Ephrata coach Missy Beierman wants another shot at Chelan.

Her Tigers fell to the Goats 45-41 on Jan. 22. Since then, Ephrata topped Cashmere 59-20 on Jan. 29 and finished off Quincy 63-37 last night.

Cashmere and the Jacks are respectively fourth and fifth in the CWAC North standings and Ephrata used both games in preparation for the playoffs and a chance to get ready for the rematch with Chelan.

"I look at it that way, definitely," Beierman said.

"This whole league season we have progressed really well and have pressed really well," she added. "We want to face Chelan next week and see if we have progressed against them."

Ephrata's win was the third largest margin of victory of the season, but Quincy didn't roll over.

The Jacks cut the lead to 13 in the third quarter, forcing Beierman to make some adjustments to the lineup.

"We weren't boxing out and it was more of telling them to get back in there," Beierman said. Beierman added that while Quincy has been at the bottom of the league the last couple years, first year head coach Cully Donovan has the program on the upswing.

Kylie Kooistra gave the Jacks its first lead of the game with a baseline jumper in the first quarter. Margie Lou Correll made two free throws to tie the game before Michelle Tobin hit a shot from the top of the key for Quincy's second lead of the game.

From there, the Tigers rattled off 11 unanswered points, including seven of Laura Tinnell's 12 points. Courtney Webb hit a 3-pointer at the end of the first quarter for a 16-6 Ephrata lead.

In the second, the Tigers continued to pull away from the Jacks, mainly due to defense and transition offense that forced 13 turnovers in the first 16 minutes. At halftime, Ephrata scored 12 points off turnovers and led 29-15 at the break.

Mia Perry opened the third quarter with a 3-pointer for the Jacks, the Ephrata scored 11 straight points.

After building a 19-point lead after the first three quarters, Tasha Zamarron closed the gap with six points early in the fourth quarter, before finishing the game with 18 points.

Beierman made some substitutions and extended the lead back to 55-33, then put the game away at 63-37.

It was Ephrata's second straight win after falling to Chelan and eighth in the last nine games. The Tigers head to Omak (0-5, 4-11) on Saturday, then host Chelan in a rematch.

"I feel there are five teams playing for four spots for state and we are one of those five and we are going to have to play our best ball here at the end," Beierman said.