Tigers claw past Huskies

OTHELLO — The Ephrata Tigers boys basketball team got a much-needed Central Washington Athletic Conference victory Tuesday night when they knocked off Othello 74-66 on the road.

The Tigers improved to 6-9 in CWAC play with the victory and Ephrata head coach Brandon Evenson said his team deserved the win.

“It’s a good win, a needed win,” he said. “The kids played hard and executed the game plan. The whole team (played well).”

The victory over Othello helped the defending state champions improve their chances for the postseason, Evenson said.

“Any win in this league is huge,” he said. “Anyone can beat anyone.”

The Tigers got off to an early start Tuesday night when they jumped out to an early lead and were able to keep the Othello offense at bay during the majority of the first quarter.

However, Othello senior Jakob Scott and his teammates would not go quietly as the Huskies crashed the boards to pull even with Ephrata 14-14 at the end of the first quarter.

The Huskies were able to stick with the Tigers during the second quarter but turnovers prohibited Othello to take control the game heading into the half, said Othello head coach Pete Patitucci.

“(We) played pretty well,” he said. “We didn’t play poorly. We just turned it over on occasion. We needed to take care of the ball.”

Othello finished the game with 14 turnovers, five of them coming at vital times in the second quarter.

“We probably had five turnovers in the second quarter when we could have buried them,” he said. “We didn’t do that. We just didn’t take care of it.”

Despite the turnovers, Othello continued to push the Tigers throughout the first half. However, it was Ephrata’s free-throw shooting that gave the Tigers a 33-32 halftime lead.

Ephrata’s Ross Buchert and Cole Christensen were deadly from the charity stripe and Ephrata as a whole entered the break 9-for-10 from the line. Buchert finished the game 10-for-11 and Christensen was 6-for-8.

After the break, the Huskies continued to battle through the opening minutes of the third quarter. The Huskies eventually took the lead in the third quarter, but poor field goal shooting ultimately doomed Othello. The Huskies were only 23-for-77 from the field Tuesday night.

The Tigers were able to take advantage of Othello’s shooting woes and Ephrata took a 52-47 lead into the fourth quarter.

Ephrata continued to shoot the ball well from the free-throw line down the stretch and the Huskies were unable to overcome the Tigers.

Although the Tigers knocked off the Huskies, Patitucci said his team had opportunities in the fourth quarter.

“We were two possessions away and we have people who can hit the (3-point shot),” he said. “We just didn’t do it.”

The Tigers shot the ball particularly well from the line Tuesday night, Evenson said.

“We love shooting free throws,” he said. “We are 65 percent for the season, (so it was) nice to shoot 80 percent.”

Ephrata finished the night 31-for-39 from the free-throw line.

Despite the loss Tuesday night, Patitucci has confidence in his team.

“I told them in the locker room that they spoiled me by allowing us to win,” he said. “I don’t like losing and they don’t like losing. Your goal is to get to the playoffs and we are still alive.”

The Huskies fell to 8-7 in CWAC play.