Tigers storm to 6-0 as Simon lights up for 29

EPHRATA — Patrick Simon is back and the Ephrata Tigers’ couldn’t be happier about.

Following a lost junior season due to injury, the Washington State Cougars’ recruit has come out firing on all cylinders this year and heads into the Holiday break with a 29-point and 14-rebound performance on his resume in the Tigers’ 69-44 home win over Toppenish last night.

Ephrata (6-0, 4-0) remains atop the Central Washington Athletic Conference (CWAC) as they continue to thrive with the reunion of Simon and his seasoned veteran teammates.

“It’s really nice to see,” Tigers coach Brandon Evenson said. “He actually struggled in the first half with seven points. But then he started going to the hole real hard and then the team started hitting from outside with four threes. His presence gives us a sense of confidence that we needed and didn’t have last year.”

Ephrata came out sluggish leading 14-12 after the first quarter and managed to pad the lead to 26-18 heading into intermission but they still struggled to get going offensively.

“We shot like 28 percent,” Evenson said. “We just weren’t hitting wide open looks. We were relying too much on the jump shot and didn’t get to the rim and get free throws.

Then things changed when they came out of the locker room.

Ephrata went on a scoring bender, hitting for 27 points as they blitzed Toppenish to the tune of 27-7 and led 53-25 going into the final eight minutes with the win at hand.

“We just went to the rim harder,” Evenson said. “This half was probably the best half of basketball we’ve played all season.

Tyrone Prescod added 14 points for Ephrata and Ross Buchert chipped in with 10 points and five assists.

Now as his team rolls on, Simon is just glad to be aboard the Ephrata Express.

“It feels real good after such a long layoff not playing,” Simon said. “It’s a good feeling to see us playing as a team. We’re just looking to take things one day at a time, play as a team, and win as a team.”

Othello 65, East Valley 57

OTHELLO — Just saying ‘Happy Holidays’ may include more pep for the members of the Othello Huskies’ boys basketball team.

Why? Well after a 65-57 home win last night, the Huskies have put themselves up amongst the big dogs of the CWAC with a 3-1 record.

“Who’d ever think? They are just playing really well right now,” Othello coach Pete Patitucci said. “The team is shooting the ball really well, pressing really well and can handle the press well too. We’re also getting balanced scoring for us. There are no weak links out there.”

Othello held a slim 16-15 lead after the first quarter and bumped it up to 38-32 by halftime.

“We just gave up easy baskets and did not protect the baseline very well,” Patitucci said.

The lead held firm at six, 47-41 after the third quarter and Othello used a 2-2-1 press to force turnovers and pull away for the win over East Valley (1-5, 1-3).

“We had our all of our 16 points in the fourth quarter during the first four minutes and we led by 22 points,” Patitucci said. “Santa says you have to empty the bench but our mob squad didn’t get the job done and we ended up only winning by eight.”

Othello was led by Jesse Espinoza’s 19 points and 12 rebounds, David Charles’ 15 points, and Jeremy Cerrillo’s eight points.

Grandview 65, Quincy 35

QUINCY — On a night where Bob Woodward was recognized by the Quincy Jacks athletic community, their boys’ basketball team fell to Grandview 65-35 last night.

Quincy (0-6, 0-4), trailed 14-9 at the end of the first quarter before Grandview (5-1, 4-0) pulled out to a 28-16 halftime lead.

Braulio Flores led Quincy with nine points and Jay Cedergreen nabbed 15 rebounds in the loss.

Woodward coached the boys basketball team at Quincy from 1954-1972 recording a 372-152 record. He is the only coach from Quincy inducted into the Washington High School Athletic Hall of Fame.

Liberty 53, ACH 50

SPANGLE — Almira/Coulee-Hartline fell 53-50 in overtime at Liberty last night.

The Warriors’ (4-3) chance to win in overtime fell short and Liberty held on to win.

ACH rallied from a 40-31 deficit at the end of the third quarter to send the game into overtime.

Derek Isaak led ACH with 24 points.

Soap Lake 54, Wilbur-Creston 53

SOAP LAKE — If a team is going to break into the win column after four straight tough losses Soap Lake found the perfect way to do so.

Not only did the Eagles’ Kyler Moats hit a clutch 22-foot shot as time expired his team knocked visiting Wilbur-Creston from the ranks of the unbeaten in a 54-53 win Monday night.

Soap Lake (1-4) ended their season opening winless streak with a fourth-quarter comeback that began when they trailed 42-37 with eight minutes left to play.

Alex Overall led Soap Lake with 16 points, while Zach Allen chipped in with 11 points and Moats ended up with nine points.