This one's 'for Coach O'Brien'

Former coach's spirit lifts Ephrata boys to state basketball title

TACOMA - If you had to boil down Ephrata's experience at the 2A state basketball tournament into a singular image, the sight of head coach Brandon Evenson standing under the hoop with a piece of the net in his hand and a finger pointed skyward just might be it.

The image is one of thousands the Tigers and their fans will take with them from a magical 2008 season and, in particular, Saturday night's climactic 58-56 victory over Burlington-Edison that clinched Ephrata's first state title since 1993.

The Tigers hadn't appeared at state since finishing fourth in 2002 and were coming off a 12-11 record last year, but the passing of their legendary coach, Marty O'Brien, during the offseason was a blow the players and coaches used as inspiration, starting with the initials FCO - "For Coach O'Brien" - on their warm-up jerseys.

"Coach O'Brien was with us all summer, taught us the offense we ran all year," senior guard Ryan Lutz said. "This whole season's for him."

The top-ranked Burlington-Edison Tigers, like Ephrata, had lost just twice all season coming into the game. B-E had won its first three game of the tourney by an average margin of 18 points, including a 25-point shellacking of Port Townsend in Friday's semfinals.

There would be no blowout on Saturday. Ephrata put B-E on its heels during the second period, grabbing a 33-24 lead at the break. An 8-0 run sparked by Daniel Simon's 3-point play was the key, and Ephrata extended the margin to 11 points early in the third quarter when Derrick Webb hit Simon for a fast-break layup.

Ephrata appeared in control, but B-E scored the next 14 points to lead 38-35 by quarter's end. Jake Anderson had six of his game-high 25 points during that time, which was keyed by B-E's switch to befuddling diamond-and-one defense that trapped Ephrata's ball handlers in tight spots and forced multiple turnovers.

"They've been half-court trapping all week," Evenson said. "But like all year long, when teams throw those junk defenses at us, guys step up."

"We've been working on the diamond-and-one before we even came here, so we knew what to do," Lutz said, adding that Ephrata simply needed time to adjust.

Eventually, Ephrata did adjust, but the damage had been done and B-E had its confidence back. The fourth quarter was a bruising affair in which a majority of the game's 44 free throws were shot and neither squad led by more than five.

"We knew that it was going to be a war, that it was going to come down to the end," B-E head coach Rick Skeen said. "I'm really proud of how hard our kids battled back - we could've quit at halftime."

Ephrata showed its moxie at several points in the final period. There was Landen Lange's 3-pointer that Evenson called the game's biggest shot. There was Patrick Simon's five-point uprising, including an 18-foot baseline jumper that put Ephrata back in front. There was reserve Kory Frank's incredible block of what appeared to be a sure layup for B-E guard Evan Coulter.

All of that was prelude to the game's final possession. Webb hit one of two foul shots to put Ephrata ahead by two with 16 seconds left, and B-E set up Anderson for a game-winning trey from the corner. The shot missed, but Kolby Arendse grabbed the rebound and got a clean look as the horn sounded.

The ball hung on the rim for a split second before falling to the floor, sending Ephrata's players and coaches rushing on the court for a raucous celebration.

The team exchanged hugs and tears for several minutes, then cut the nets down and retreated to the locker room. After all that, the Tigers were understandably shell-shocked.

"Amazing," Lutz managed as his first reaction.

"It's unreal," Evenson said.

Patrick Simon led Ephrata with 19 points, including a 4 of 9 effort from 3-point range, and added five blocked shots. Daniel Simon had 17 points, five rebounds and four blocks en route to the tournament's Most Valuable Player honors.

Ephrata's other starters - Webb, Lutz and Lange - combined for 17 points, and Frank provided his usual strong contribution off the bench with three assists and two steals.

"I've got to go in there and pump everyone up, play defense and get everyone going," Frank said of his season-long role. "That's what I knew I needed to do today."

Anderson, who averaged a tournament-high 20 points per game, had a game-high 13 rebounds for B-E, while teammates Arendse (10 points, eight boards, three steals) and Coulter (11 points, seven boards, four assists) also played very well.

"We've faced some good ones, but tonight he was one of the best that we've faced," Evenson said of the 6-foot-6 Anderson. "We knew we'd have to hold him in check, and I don't think we did that, but we made the plays when we needed to."

"All the credit goes to Ephrata - they were two points better than us," Skeen added. "It's frustrating to look at the stat sheet - I can't find too many stats they beat us in other than the one that counted."

How does a team with basically the same personnel go from a 12-11 record to, 12 months later, a 25-2 mark and a state title? A newfound respect for one another brought on by a common denominator - Coach O'Brien.

"They believed in each other, they believed in me," Evenson said. "Not once did they say a bad thing about each other. The team chemistry is what was different."

"This season we've been a lot closer to each other, more of a team," Lutz added. "We've had ups and downs, but everybody gets over it and we just go out there and play."

Ephrata 60, Mark Morris 54, OT

Friday's semifinal matchup between the sixth-ranked Tigers and second-ranked Monarchs was a like a shootout between two Old West gunslingers, and the biggest firepower was supplied by Patrick Simon and Mark Morris' Jyles Petersen.

Patrick Simon had 14 of his 21 points during the third and fourth quarters as Ephrata led by as many as seven. But after Daniel Simon missed the front end of a 1-and-1, the 5-foot-8 Petersen drilled a miraculous 3-pointer that ended with him flat on his back in front of the Monarchs' bench, more than 25 feet from the hoop.

The shot tied the game at 49-49 and forced overtime.

Petersen almost singlehandedly put the Monarchs in their second straight title game, finishing with 27 points and hitting 7 of 17 from 3-point range.

"We knew he was hitting, so we went to man (defense) and he was still hitting against man," Evenson said. "That fadeaway at the end of regulation, what a shot. Even my kids were like, 'God, I can't believe that went in.'"

But the Tigers survived thanks to a strong rebounding effort and clutch foul shooting. Ephrata had a 40-29 edge on the boards and made 17 of its 23 free throws, including 7 of 8 in overtime.

"All week we've shot great free throws," said Patrick Simon, who was 6 for 6 at the stripe. "That's what we said before the game, 'The team that hits its free throws is going to win this game.'"

An entertaining first quarter concluded with a 16-14 Tigers lead. Petersen buried four treys during the frame, but Ephrata countered with a balanced effort in which the Simon brothers, Webb and Lutz all scored.

Trailing 22-20 at halftime, the Monarchs got what appeared to be a momentum-shifting play early in the third quarter.

Justin Waldher lofted a pass towards the rim and 6-7 senior Matt Trautman practically hit the Tacoma Dome roof to throw down a thunderous one-handed dunk, tying the score at 24-24.

The Tigers didn't let the play faze them, scoring 13 of the next 19 points for their biggest lead of the night.

Patrick Simon nailed a pair of long 3-pointers during the run, and reserve Ross Buchert made a huge play by faking 6-9 monster Eric Hutchison out of his shorts to score on a baseline drive.

"He came in and gave Derrick Webb a spell," Evenson said of Buchert, who had five points and three rebounds in 16 minutes. "He's been stepping up the last couple weeks. As a sophomore, I think he feels comfortable at the varsity level now."

Daniel Simon keyed the overtime effort, scoring seven of his 14 points. He swished two foul shots for a four-point lead with 25.6 seconds left, and after Jeray Key missed a trey for the Monarchs, Webb broke ahead of the pack and sealed the win with a layup.

"Daniel has been an incredible senior leader for us," Evenson said. "When the game's on the line, we want the ball in his hands making the right decisions."

Ephrata 16 17 7 18 -58

B-E 13 11 17 15 -56

EPHRATA (58): Frank 0-2 1-2 1, Lange 2-3 0-0 6, D. Buchert 0-0 0-0 0, Wash 0-0 0-0 0, Lutz 2-5 0-0 5, R. Buchert 2-8 0-1 4, Tinnell 0-0 0-0 0, Webb 1-1 4-6 6, D. Simon 5-12 7-10 17, Curnutt 0-0 0-0 0, P. Simon 7-13 1-2 19, Miller 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-44 13-21 58.

BURLINGTON-EDISON (56): Whan 0-0 0-0 0, Babington 0-1 0-0 0, Coulter 4-11 1-2 11, Stewart 1-6 3-4 6, Tiscornia 0-0 0-2 0, Shearer 0-0 0-0 0, Anderson 9-20 3-5 25, Arendse 2-13 6-10 10, Conijn 0-1 0-0 0, Ingman 0-0 0-0 0, Lott 2-2 0-0 4, Christianson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-54 13-23 56.

3-pointers: Ephrata 7-20 (Frank 0-1, Lange 2-3, Lutz 1-3, R. Buchert 0-2, D. Simon 0-2, P. Simon 4-9), B-E 7-20 (Babington 0-1, Coulter 2-3, Stewart 1-6, Anderson 4-10). Rebounds: Ephrata 30 (Webb 6, D. Simon 5), B-E 37 (Anderson 13, Arendse 8, Coulter 7). Assists: Ephrata 12 (Frank 3, Webb 3), B-E 10 (Coulter 4). Blocked shots: Ephrata 9 (P. Simon 5, D. Simon 4), B-E 2. Steals: Ephrata 6 (Frank 2, D. Simon 2), B-E 8 (Arendse 3). Total fouls: Ephrata 16, B-E 18. Technical fouls: None. Turnovers: Ephrata 11, B-E 9.

Ephrata 16 6 15 12 11 -60

MM 14 6 10 19 5 -54

EPHRATA (60): Frank 0-1 0-0 0, Lange 1-4 1-3 3, D. Buchert 0-0 0-0 0, Wash 0-0 0-0 0, Lutz 3-7 0-0 7, R. Buchert 2-5 1-2 5, Tinnell 0-0 0-0 0, Webb 4-5 1-2 10, D. Simon 2-12 9-13 14, Curnutt 0-0 0-0 0, P. Simon 6-16 6-6 21, Miller 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 18-51 17-23 60.

MARK MORRIS (54): Key 2-8 1-4 7, Petersen 8-19 4-5 27, Brill 0-1 0-0 0, Carson 0-0 0-0 0, Crawford 0-0 0-0 0, Waldher 1-1 0-0 3, Van Zanten 0-0 0-0 0, Sokol 0-0 0-0 0, Olson 0-0 0-0 0, Trautman 4-11 0-0 8, Suek 0-1 0-0 0, Hutchison 4-7 1-2 9. Totals 19-48 6-11 54.

3-pointers: Ephrata 7-18 (Lange 1-3, Lutz 1-2, R. Buchert 0-1, Webb 1-2, D. Simon 1-2, P. Simon 3-8), Mark Morris 10-26 (Key 2-5, Petersen 7-17, Brill 0-1, Waldher 1-1, Trautman 0-2). Rebounds: Ephrata 40 (P. Simon 12, D. Simon 8), Mark Morris 29 (Key 9). Assists: Ephrata 11 (D. Simon 6, Lange 4), Mark Morris 11 (Key 5). Blocked shots: Ephrata 3 (D. Simon 2), Mark Morris 4 (Hutchison 3). Steals: Ephrata 5 (Lutz 2), Mark Morris 4 (Waldher 2). Total fouls: Ephrata 9, Mark Morris 18. Technical fouls: None. Turnovers: Ephrata 7, Mark Morris 8.