Ephrata dominant in district opener

Correll, Webb, Tinnell and Whitaker score 14 each in win over Grandview

EPHRATA — It was all about the "O" and the "D" for the Ephrata girls basketball team as they shutdown Grandview 76-57 on Thursday at the Ephrata High School.

The Tigers' defense held Grandview to 25 percent shooting in the first half and had an offensive explosion with a 20-point second quarter to take the first game of the CWAC district tournament. Margie Lou Correll finished the game with 14 points and seven rebounds, but more notably, had four blocked shots on Marisel Cornejo, holding the Greyhounds' post player to eight points in the game.

"We clogged the inside," said Missy Beierman, head coach for the Tigers, about the first half defensive effort by Ephrata. "Margie did a great job on Cornejo of changing her shot and you could see it."

Correll got help from Kyla Whitaker, Laura Tinnell and Courtney Webb, who scored 14 points each in the win. Tiffany Moncrief added 12 points for the Tigers.

For Grandview, Jessica Rodriguez managed to get through the Tigers' defense, posting 24 points, four rebounds and four steals in the loss.

Grandview held Ephrata close through the first quarter as Marisol Hinojosa hit her only 3-pointer of the game to cut the Tigers' lead to 6-5. Tinnell answered with a 3 of her own with 4:07 left in the quarter to push the lead to 9-5 and eventually settle for a 17-12 first quarter lead.

Moncrief caught fire in the second quarter, opening with a turnaround jumper, followed by a fastbreak layin that forced the Greyhounds into a timeout with 6:17 left in the half trailing 22-12.

Ephrata continued to run the court and quickly shot out to a 30-15 lead after Correll scoring on transition and in the post with 2:56 left. Cornejo and Danica Rodriguez, who finished with six points, hit back-to-back 3-pointers before Webb hit back-to-back shots to end the quarter with Ephrata up 39-22.

"I thought we did run it pretty well and were beating them up the floor," Beierman said of Ephrata's ability to pull away from Grandview. "We were getting them off balance and getting the ball to the open woman."

Webb opened the second half with a 3-pointer and Ephrata created its biggest lead of the game to 56-31 after Webb and Tinnell hit a couple of 3's late in the third.

The Greyhounds tried to keep the game respectable in the fourth quarter after trailing by 21 to the Tigers.

Grandview created a run of six straight scoring opportunities without an Ephrata basket and came away with 10 points to cut the lead to 68-54 with 1:42 left in the game. The Greyhounds eventually came within 12 points with less than a minute and a half to go in the game, but sent the Tigers to the free-throw line 10 times during the final seconds to allow Ephrata to come up with the 76-57 win.

"We had them scouted pretty well," Beierman said. "We knew they put up a lot of shots and were fast paced, they are always around and getting up the court."

The Tigers face East Valley High School at East Valley on Saturday at 8 p.m. The winner secures a spot in the state tournament while the loser goes into the consolations for a chance to grab a third or fourth seed for the tournament.

"Now we are going up against a tough opponent in East Valley, but a win is a win at this time of the year and we have been playing solid and this will help our confidence," Beierman added.