Ephrata wins again while Chiefs, Huskies fall

PROSSER — A hungry Tiger makes for a tough one to reckon with.

Multiply one by 11 and you have the Ephrata Tigers’ boys basketball team.

Hear them roar.

Ephrata, behind 16 points by Mark Novik and 14 points by Ross Buchert, kept their perfect start intact with a 67-52 win at Prosser on Saturday night.

The state-ranked (varying by poll) Tigers (5-0, 3-0 in Central Washington Athletic Conference (CWAC) play) were tied at 31-31 before breaking the game open in the second half.

“Overall it was a tough game but we found a way to win,” Ephrata coach Brandon Evenson said. “We just started hitting shots after we shot poorly in the first half. Ross hit a big shot and Mark got a couple put backs and our defense picked up the intensity which you need to do on the road to win.”

An 18-12 third quarter and a commanding 18-9 fourth quarter helped the Tigers slowly slip away and to the top of the CWAC standings.

“We’re going to get everyone’s ‘A’ game every night,” Evenson said. “So we have to play hard every night. When you’re highly ranked, people like to beat those teams.”

Patrick Simon added 13 points, 16 rebounds and five blocked shots while Randall Tupling contributed 11 points for Ephrata.

Ephrata outrebounded Prosser 50-39.

Sunnyside 52, Moses Lake 49

SUNNYSIDE — Turnabout is just not fair.

Following up a 52-49 win Friday night against Wenatchee the Moses Lake Chiefs lost by the identical score at Sunnyside on Saturday evening.

The Chiefs (1-7, 1-1 in Big 9 Columbia play) trailed by five going into the fourth quarter before a late rally fell short.

“We jumped out early in the first quarter and felt the match up was in our favor with our height and quickness,” Moses Lake coach Rolland Hansen said. “It was pretty much see-saw after that and couldn’t get ahead again after they took the lead.”

Matt Franz led the Chiefs with 21 points while Tyler Raymond added 13 points.

“Playing behind we don’t play as sharp,” Hansen said. “We had 27 turnovers so it was amazing we were still in position to win.”

The game was tied at 48-48 before Sunnyside managed to take the lead for good.

Moses Lake had a chancefor the win but committed a turnover before getting off a shot for a tie or victory.

“Our guys are playing hard,” Hansen said. “We played hard defensively but we need to fix the turnovers.”

Toppenish 48, Quincy 39

TOPPENISH — Quincy’s search for that elusive first win continues.

A hot start for the Jacks was not enough and Quincy’s offense sputtered over the final three quarters in a 48-39 loss at Toppenish (1-4, 1-2) on Saturday.

Luke Grigg scored 17 points for Quincy (0-5, 0-3 in CWAC play) who had no other player score more than five points in support.

Quincy led 16-10 after the first quarter but scored only 23 points over the last 24 minutes.

The Jacks made the Class 2A state quarterfinals last season.

Grandview 71, Othello 61

GRANDVIEW — Othello’s search for a third straight season-opening win fell short as Grandview defeated the Huskies 71-61 on Saturday night in a CWAC clash.

Grandview (4-1, 3-0) used a 40-23 run over the second and third quarters to build an 18-point lead going into the fourth quarter and held on to win.

Othello cut the gap down to two late in the game behind a 1-3-1 press and had a chance to tie or take the lead with two minutes left before the rally fell short.

“We missed a shot and they came down and hit one.” Othello coach Pete Patitucci said. “We had to foul them and they didn’t miss any free throws at the end.”

Othello (2-1, 2-1) was led by David Charles’ 21 points and Jeremy Cerrillo’s 12 points.

“I told the kids that after the game we could have rolled over and we proved we could play with a good team,” Patitucci said. “We made some real strides.”

ACH 71, Odessa 38

COULEE CITY — A slow start didn’t belie the final outcome as an early Odessa challenge was thwarted by Almira/Coulee-Hartline in a 71-38 win for the hosts on Friday evening.

After trailing 16-10 after one quarter the Warriors (4-2) outscored Odessa 23-4 in the second quarter to lead by 13 at halftime.

“They started in a box-in-one and it takes awhile to figure out how to break a box,” ACH coach Scott Isaak said. “Once we did we rolled. Every team is different so it just takes some time to figure it out.”

Kody Dillon led ACH with 22 points six rebounds and three assists and Brandon Boutain had 15 points and eight rebounds.

Season leading scorer Derek Isaak, who faced the box-in-one all night was held to 10 points.

“It also shows we have other kids who can flat score,” Scott Isaak said. “It’s nice to see other kids step up.”

He also likes his team’s effort.

“We have had three games where we are pedal to the medal with effort,” Scott Isaak said. “That makes up for a wealth of sins. We are also being more patient and it helps we have a lot of kids who can put the ball in the hoop.”