Pups steal win from Moses Lake girls

Ephrata 75, Ellensburg 61; Prosser 55, Othello 48; Quincy 32, Cascade 29

ELLENSBURG — The Ellensburg Tigers couldn’t get over the hump at Ellensburg as they lost their Central Washington Athletic Conference (CWAC) opener 75-61 on Friday.

The Tigers (1-2, 0-1) fell behind 28-12 at the end of the first quarter and trailed by 21 at halftime.

Yet a big third quarter saw Ephrata outscore their hosts 21-7 to cut the gap to seven.

Ellensburg managed to hold off the rally behind the play of Andrea Bland, Deaira Gordon and Kim Kelly who all finished in double figures.

Kelsey Yemmey led Ephrata with 19 points while Margaret Eisen pitched in 11 points.

Prosser 55, Othello 48

OTHELLO — Finally getting their season started didn’t turn out quite as expected as the Othello Huskies fell at home 55-48 to Prosser on Friday night.

Othello (0-1, 0-1) led 12-10 after the first quarter before losing the lead in what proved to be a tight contest.

“It was a close game the whole way until the last couple minutes where we didn’t handle the press very well,” Huskies’ coach Laurie Stickel said. “I think you get jitters in the first game but you still got to play. We didn’t make good choices with the ball and made bad passes.”

Christine Kirkwood led the Huskies with 16 points and 12 rebounds while Kylee Mollotte registered 13 points and seven rebounds while Lindsay Garza snatched 11 rebounds.

Othello was plagued by 24 turnovers, including five crucial ones in the game’s dying minutes.

“For a first game I didn’t think it was bad,” Stickel said. “We need  to do a little more conditioning since we ran out of gas faster than I thought we would. But I did see some nice things happen we just need to make some better choices.”

Quincy 32, Cascade 29

WENATCHEE — Quincy managed to enjoy its appearance at the Toyota Center and the North Central Washington Basketball Showcase as the Jacks held on for a 32-29 win.

Quincy led 30-19 after three quarters after shutting out Cascade 14-0 in the third before the drama started for the Jacks (3-0).

“We came out in the third quarter and began rebounding, getting the lose balls and limiting them to one shot,” Quincy coach Cully Donovan said. “But in the fourth quarter we turned the ball over a few times and weren’t being as aggressive as we had been. Cascade was undefeated also and came out ready to play. It was an odd game with all the missed shots and the atmosphere and the momentum shifts.”

Dyanna Lopez led the Jacks with 13 points while her sister Marisol had six points, 15 rebounds, and six blocked shots.

“Marisol played really well,” Donovan said. “Cascade was trying to get the ball into the paint and she’s a great defender despite being five-foot-eight. Her hard work paid off tonight.

The previous night Quincy travelled to Selah for their CWAC opener and came out 45-40 winners.

Cassidee Davis had 14 points to lead the Jacks, including six in the last few minutes.

Dyanna Lopez had 11 points as did Taylor Kunkel.

Quincy outscored Selah 13-7 in the fourth quarter to pull out a win that leaves them already within one of last year’s season total.

“I would like these girls to figure out how to pull away with a lead,” Donovan said. “But they’re learning how to win these games and finding different ways to pull them out.”