Lady Huskies rally past Ephrata

OTHELLO — The Othello Lady Huskies got an important Central Washington Athletic Conference girls basketball victory Tuesday night when they rallied in the second half to knock off Ephrata 63-48.

The Lady Huskies got off to a sluggish start at home, trailing the Lady Tigers 15-10 after eight minutes.

Othello head coach Laurie Stickel said she was impressed with how aggressively Ephrata played Tuesday night.

“I just thought that they were very aggressive,” she said. “They came out to play. They were not going to give up and that’s impressive that they have that much tenacity and intensity.”

Othello began to mount an early comeback in the second quarter when they pulled within 23-22 with less than a minute left in the half.

Ephrata took possession of the basketball and pushed the ball up the court. The Lady Tigers worked through their offense and with eight seconds left, the Huskies blocked an Ephrata shot.

Othello’s Christine Kirkwood picked up the loose ball and pushed a fast-break opportunity down the court for the Lady Huskies.

With the clock under three seconds left, Kirkwood hadn’t pushed the ball past the half-court line.

Kirkwood looked up, saw seconds left on the clock and let the ball fly.

The ball arced toward to hoop, falling through the twine as the buzzer sounded to give the Lady Huskies a 25-23 halftime lead.

Stickel said Kirkwood’s buzzer-beater gave the Lady Huskies momentum that carried into the second half.

“That was very nice,” she said. “She practices that shot when she has free time. That shot definitely gave us good energy going into the locker room.”

After a slow first half, the Huskies found their rhythm in the second half.

Othello’s defense pushed the Ephrata offense down the stretch and the Lady Huskies rolled past the Lady Tigers.

Kirkwood led the Lady Huskies in scoring with 17 points and three players recorded double-doubles in the victory.

 Kirkwood played well throughout Tuesday night’s victory, Stickel said.

“She was a good floor general tonight,” Stickel said.

Othello dominated the boards Tuesday night, out-rebounding the Lady Tigers 59-39.

Allison Walker scored 15 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, Tiffany Martinez finished with 14 points and 11 boards, and Kylee Mollotte finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds.