Lady Tigers toe the line

Ephrata's key free throws eke out narrow win

EPHRATA — The Lady Tigers' weakness was their strength Thursday night.

Up 59-55 with 1:17 against the physically tough Lake Roosevelt Lady Raiders, Ephrata needed to hit from the free throw line.

They did in a big way. Courtney Webb's two from the line gave Ephrata a six-point lead, but Lake Roosevelt's Rhonda St. Pierre quickly knifed to the lane for a quick hoop.

St. Pierre, whose team frustrated all game Ephrata with a hounding full-court press, stole the inbounds pass and scored to draw within two point with 40 seconds remaining. Ephrata guard Kyla Whitaker was quickly fouled and made one of two

free throws. Lake Roosevelt quickly scored two more, drawing the score to 62-61 with 25 seconds remaining. Ephrata's Mary Eisen was fouled and made her first shot, but her second caught the back of the rim and kicked into the crowd of fighting players. The Lady Tigers recovered and Webb hit another from the line.

Lake Roosevelt missed a desperation half court shot as time expired, giving Ephrata the 64-61 win in non-league play. Ephrata head coach Missy Beierman said her team went into the game trying to get 20 free throw attempts. They ended with 40 against the slap-happy Lady Raiders, who had two starters foul out and two starters end with four fouls each. The Lady Tigers shot 68 percent from the line.

"That's actually been pretty much a weekness," Beierman said of free throws. "But we shot them well in practice yesterday and they said, 'Hey, let's put them in.'"

Both teams had three-game winning streaks coming into the game and Beierman said she expected a battle.

"I knew this was going to be a tough game," she said. "They gave us just that. From all the scouting reports, I knew what to expect."

What seemed unexpected for the Lady Tigers was Lake Roosevelt's constant full-court pressure, which generated more than 20 Ephrata turnovers and kept the game close.

"We made some poor decisions at times," Beierman said. "But overall, I thought we did a pretty good job. The only thing we really talked about (at halftime) was getting rid of the ball before the double-team."

When they did that, Ephrata scored easy layups. Lake Roosevelt players and fans complained about the amount of fouls they racked up, but Beierman said she thought the calls were justified.

"Maybe they're used to getting away with a lot of physical play, but reaching across the body is a foul," she said.

The Lady Tigers got 16 points from Whitaker and 13 from Webb, who was a clutch six of seven from the line.

With the win, Ephrata improves to 7-3 before league play and continues their four-game winning streak. The Lady Tigers play their first league game at Quincy (2-7) next Friday.