Tigers hail to King's
Ephrata head coach Missy Beierman, middle, talks with her players during a timeout in the fourth quarter of Thursday's 66-33 loss to King's High School.<br>Brad Redford/ Columbia Basin Herald
Knights pounce Ephrata in first half
YAKIMA — If you ask Missy Beierman, King's has no weakness. Not their shooting, passing, rebounding or defense.
Take a look at the box score and you'd probably believe her.
The Knights pulled off a 66-33 win over the Tigers on Thursday, convincing the Ephrata head coach that the King's are the favorite to win the 2A state title.
"That first half, they didn't miss much, they made you pay every time you didn't box out, they ran the floor well and they passed well," Beierman said. "I didn't see a weakness."
Leading the way for the King's was Sara Mosiman, who seemed to do it all also. Mosiman could shoot (8-of-9 shooting for 21 points), pass (four assists) and play defense (four steals).
The Knights as a whole shot 46.2 percent from the field, forced 23 Ephrata turnovers and scored 26 points off those turnovers.
"She is a stud and it will be fun to say we played against her," Beierman said of Mosiman's performance. "She can pass and shoot."
Ephrata's Margie Lou Correll scored the lone basket in the first half putting the Tigers up 2-0 in the opening seconds of the first quarter. From there, everything went from good to bad for Ephrata.
Caitlyn Faidley and Danielle Clauson hit two layups, both of which Mosiman was attributed with the assist, then Mosiman hit a layup and a short jumper to lead the Knights to an 8-2 lead on Ephrata.
Meanwhile, Ephrata had two field goal attempts after the Correll basket in the midst of 11 turnovers.
In the second quarter, Mary Eisen came off the bench to score four of her eight points as King's built its lead to 43-10 and the game all but in the bag.
"We talked at half that they are still representing Ephrata and they can still play hard and no one can take that away from you," Beierman said.
Ephrata came out pushing the ball in the third, but with little success against Mosiman and the rest of the Knights' starters. In the fourth, King's switched out the starting lineup and Ephrata took advantage by outscoring the Knights 16-9.
"We got our butts kicked, but we were still out there running the floor and trying," Beierman said. "We remember Ephrata putting the hurt on and you still have to come out and play your ball."
The Tigers face Lynden Christian at 2 p.m. today in a loser-out matchup.