No kidding, Tigers pull away in second half

YAKIMA — What a joke.

That’s what the Class 2A second-ranked Ephrata Tigers heard members of the Mount Baker team say to them as the two squads passed each other at the hotel they are staying in while both prepared for yesterday’s first round encounter at the State Basketball Tournament.

Yet in the end it was Ephrata (21-2) laughing all the way to tonight’s Class 2A quarterfinals with a resounding 63-50 win, sparked by a 40-point second half keyed by five three-pointers.

Ephrata battles West Valley (16-7) (Spokane) at 7:30 p.m. tonight.

Mount Baker? They get to laugh in the consolation bracket.

“We all got fired up about that and probably played a lot harder because of it,” Tigers’ guard Ross Buchert said. “We were a little shaky in the beginning. It felt like a close game the whole time but we try to stay positive and don’t let it get to us. We usually do better when they trash talk.”

To the Mountaineers’ (14-11) credit, they did come out firing and battled back-and-forth with Ephrata in the first half, leading 15-14 after the first quarter and 28-23 at halftime.

“I think they played real physical and we took a step,” Ephrata coach Brandon Evenson said. “We were nervous and played that way. But we calmed down in the second half.”

Ephrata struggled from the field in the first half, going one-for-seven from beyond the arc and 31 percent from the field total.

Senior Patrick Simon led the Tigers into the locker room with 10 points but their offensive struggles were a concern.

In the second half, Buchert hit three three-pointers, including two during a 18-6 run to start the second half as Ephrata took a 45-37 lead going into the game’s final eight minutes.

“We just settled down and got our feet settled under us on our shots,” Evenson said. “We also got more into the open floor and were able to do more things we like to do.”

Buchert scored 10 points during the Tigers’ 22-point quarter.

Ephrata pulled away to start the final quarter, scoring the first six points and they rolled from there.

Buchert finished with a game-high 28 points, including 11-of-15 performance from he free-throw line. Simon added 20 points for Ephrata which finished 19-for-43 from the field while holding Mt. Baker to 25 percent shooting in the second half.

“Everyone needs to play harder all the way through and hit open shots,” Buchert said. “I think we have momentum now and everyone is fired up right now. After the game everyone was pretty pumped.”