Ephrata dominates W.F. West in 2A state opener

Ephrata 65, W.F. West 56

TACOMA - Folks on the west side of the state are starting to pay attention to the Ephrata Tigers.

Sure, westside powers like Burlington-Edison and Mark Morris are drawing the usual hype, but Ephrata's 65-56 deflating of W.F. West in Wednesday's 2A state tournament opener was one of those games that opened a few skeptics' eyes.

The Tigers used a 24-11 spurt in the second quarter to pull away from the Bearcats, advancing to today's 3:30 p.m. quarterfinal game against the Lynden Lions.

Lynden, the defending state champions, survived a scare from Foster in Wednesday's first round winning 52-49 in overtime.

Ephrata did what it has done all season in annihilating W.F. West - playing solid zone defense and spreading the ball around on offense. A 10-2 run late in the second period put the Tigers in front by 18 points at halftime, and the Bearcats never got closer than 14 in the second half.

"I thought we came out and played with composure and poise," Ephrata coach Brandon Evenson said. "We haven't been here before, so it was good to see us shoot the ball well and we played pretty good defense, too."

The Tigers finished 23 of 46 (50 percent) from the field, while WF West managed a 20 of 50 effort (40 percent) by hitting some late shots.

Ephrata's zone defense was packed into the lane on most occasions, daring the Bearcats to shoot 3-pointers. The strategy worked as W.F. West was 1 of 10 beyond the arc at halftime and finished 7 for 27 (26 percent).

"You want to see if they have their bearing and that they can hit the 3," Evenson said.

Meanwhile, senior Daniel Simon was busy taking over at the offensive end. The 6-foot-5 Simon was in on nearly every play, isolating himself against one defender and either driving for scores or dishing to open teammates.

"We ran it down their throats for a little bit and kind of got them tired," said Simon, who finished with 15 points, seven rebounds and five assists. "Then we pulled it back out and made them play defense for a couple minutes at a time.

"I think we really tired them out," he added. "We've got eight or 10 guys who can come in and play, and it looks like they've only got six or seven."

Evenson's observations were similar, and Simon's ability to penetrate on a regular basis became part of the game plan.

"We saw that he could handle the ball against their kids and then everybody else could get open when he drove," the coach said. "It worked the first couple times, so we kind of kept going to the well."

Senior guard Ryan Lutz hit 7 of 9 from the floor and had 15 points and five boards for Ephrata. Patrick Simon had nine points, five boards and three blocked shots, while Ross Buchert chipped in seven points off the bench.

Patrick Simon was somewhat limited by foul trouble, but set the tone early with his three blocked shots. The Bearcats weren't nearly as aggressive in the paint the rest of the way.

Lucas Strohbach led W.F. West with 16 points and four steals. Ben Ternan had 10 points, and reserve Josh Coleman drilled three straight treys in the second half for nine points.

Ephrata's second period was a thing of beauty. The Tigers forced most of W.F. West's 11 turnovers in that time, then finished in transition.

A Lutz basket off Kory Frank's assist pushed Ephrata's lead to double digits for the first time. Buchert drilled a 3-pointer in the final minute, and Daniel Simon hit another with two seconds remaining for the halftime margin.

In today's quarterfinal contest, the Tigers are concerned with Lynden's size and physicality on the low blocks. Lions point guard Brady Bomber - who torched Foster for 22 points on Wednesday - is another point of emphasis.

"They are big and strong," Evenson said. "They play good man-to-man defense and so we're just going to have to play our game."

WF West 7 11 15 23 —56

Ephrata 12 24 14 15 —65

WF West (56): Kaplan 0-1 0-0 0, Strohbach 6-8 4-6 16, Critcher 1-1 0-0 2, Ternan 3-6 2-2 10, T. Coleman 1-11 0-0 3, J. Coleman 3-3 0-0 9, Elliott 1-6 0-0 2, Khan 0-1 0-0 0, Allwine 2-4 3-4 7, Bagby 0-2 0-0 0, Davis 2-4 0-0 5, Squires 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 20-50 9-12 56.

Ephrata (65): Frank 0-0 0-0 0, Lange 1-1 1-2 3, D. Buchert 0-0 0-0 0, Wash 0-1 0-0 0, Lutz 7-9, 0-0 15, R. Buchert 2-6 2-2 7, Tinnell 0-0 0-0 0, Webb 2-4 2-2 6, D. Simon 5-12 4-5 15, Curnutt 3-4 0-0 6, P. Simon 3-7 2-2 9, Miller 0-2 4-4 4. Totals 23-46 15-17 65.

3-pointers: W.F. West 7-27 (Ternan 2-4, T. Coleman 1-11, J. Coleman 3-3, Elliott 0-5, Khan 0-1, Davis 1-2, Squires 0-1), Ephrata 4-7 (Wash 0-1, Lutz 1-2, R. Buchert 1-1, D. Simon 1-1, P. Simon 1-2). Rebounds: W.F. West 22 (Squires 5), Ephrata 35 (D. Simon 7). Assists: W.F. West 11 (T. Coleman 3, Davis 3), Ephrata 15 (D. Simon 5). Steals: W.F. West 8 (Strohbach 4), Ephrata 9 (Miller 2, P. Simon 2, Frank 2). Total fouls: W.F. West 17, Ephrata 14. Technical fouls: None. Turnovers: W.F. West 11, Ephrata 16.