Drought over for Lady Tigers

Ephrata builds big first-half lead, holds off late charge from Grandview

EPHRATA - This season hasn't been what the Ephrata Lady Tigers were looking for, but on Thursday night, a whole lot of frustration ended with their first victory.

Using a poised and patient offensive attack, along with a determined rebounding effort, Ephrata built a 34-22 halftime lead over the visiting Grandview Greyhounds. The Lady Tigers survived a gritty rally in the final seconds, holding on for a 49-47 triumph.

At 1-10 overall, 1-8 in Central Washington Athletic Conference play, Ephrata is far from being in good shape. But head coach Aaron Ross and his girls still believe the postseason is a realistic goal.

"We play everyone again," Ross said. "There are some games where we feel like we should've won. We want to go out and win those the second time around."

The Lady Tigers now have the knowledge and confidence they can win, holding Grandview to 26 percent shooting from the floor. The only reason the Greyhounds hung around was their 17 made free throw - 15 of them from star post Kinzi Poteet, who scored a game-high 21 points.

Poteet, one of the state's top 2A scorers, made a pair from the line to trim Ephrata's lead to 49-44 with 54 seconds left. The Tigers turned the ball over on their next series, and after Anna George hit one free throw, she grabbed her own miss and scored to make it 49-47 with 24 ticks left.

Ephrata's Greer Monson missed the front end of an ensuing one-and-one. Lexi Lange bailed her out, reaching in to tie up Poteet and give Ephrata the alternating possession with 5 seconds to go. Lange dribbled out the rest of the time, and the Tigers were in the win column.

Ross knew how good Poteet was and centered his game plan around her. The 6-foot-2 junior added eight rebounds and four steals, but shot just 3 of 10 from the floor.

"The biggest thing we wanted to do was limit her second shots," Ross said. "We knew she was going to get her shots. We wanted to limit her second shots and keep her off the foul line, which we didn't do all that well."

But that was offset by Ephrata's balanced offensive attack and - 25 turnovers not withstanding - poised ball handling for most of the game. Grandview's press was so ineffective in the first half that the Hounds didn't return to it until they trailed by double digits late in the third quarter.

Ephrata did limit the second shots of Poteet and fellow frontcourt mate George, who finished with 10 points and eight boards. The Tigers had a 44-32 edge on the glass, with Abby Smith grabbing 11 and five others getting at least five apiece.

Lange, who had an all-around solid game with 11 points, six rebounds, five assists and two steals, gave Ephrata an early 10-9 with a pair of first-quarter 3-pointers. Rachelle Couture drained two more treys in the second period, igniting a sustained run. Ephrata scored the final eight points of the half, using three BreAnne Duff baskets and two Lange free throws for a 12-point halftime lead.

The Tigers didn't score for about the last five minutes of regulation, managing just five points in the final period. Ross chalked that up to nerves - his girls haven't been in many down-to-the-wire games.

"It's one of those things where we don't have a lot of experience," he said. "It was a good learning thing for us on top of the win. Now we understand what we're supposed to do in that situation."

Duff is the Tigers' lone senior, and Ross credited her leadership as a factor in the win. Duff finished with eight points, five rebounds and three assists.

"She's done a tremendous job all year, not just tonight, of keeping everyone together," Ross said of Duff. "I can't say enough good things about her."

Ephrata has a tough task tonight as it tries to win its second straight. The Tigers travel to red-hot Othello - winners of six straight - at 6 p.m.

Grandview 9 13 13 12 - 47

Ephrata 10 24 10 5 - 49

Grandview (47): Gonzalez 2-7, 0-0, 4. Cruz 0-0, 0-0, 0. Poteet 3-10, 15-22, 21. George 4-10, 2-3, 10. Reynolds 0-5, 0-0, 0. Eucker 2-8, 0-1, 4. Gomez 0-0, 0-0, 0. Medina 0-0, 0-0, 0. Smasne 0-2, 0-0, 0. Lopez 3-12, 0-0, 8. Lupercio 0-1, 0-0, 0.

Ephrata (49): Lotz 0-3, 0-0, 0. Eloff 0-0, 0-0, 0. Duff 4-14, 0-2, 8. Peters 0-0, 0-0, 0. Smith 4-12, 4-8, 12. Bohnet 0-1, 0-0, 0. Selig 0-0, 0-0, 0. Lange 3-8, 3-4, 11. Eisen 3-5, 0-0, 6. Hintz 1-2, 0-0, 2. Monson 2-3, 0-1, 4. Couture 2-6, 0-0, 6.