Lady Tigers avoid season sweep to advance in districts
Ephrata and Kelsey Yenney (10) are on to the CWAC district playoff semifinals as they beat Ellensburg 58-55 in double overtime on Monday night. The win guarantees a regional playoff berth for the Lady Tigers next week.
ELLENSBURG - The third time wasn't a charm for the Ellensburg Bulldogs, but it sure was for the Ephrata Lady Tigers.
On Monday night, the host, fourth-seeded Bulldogs aimed for a third straight win over the Lady Tigers this season in the teams' Central Washington Athletic Conference (CWAC) district tournament opener.
In fact, Ellensburg's wins in the previous two encounters gave them the homecourt advantage in the playoff as both team's finished with identical 10-8 league marks.
But on this night, Ephrata got the win when it counted most.
Despite losing a late lead in regulation, the Lady Tigers clawed their way to a 58-55 double overtime win over Ellensburg to advance on a semifinal on Friday at No. 1 seed and Class 2A's top-ranked team Prosser.
Ephrata (13-8) have assured themselves of advancing on to regional tournament play next week.
"It was a great game with both teams hitting huge shots," Ephrata head coach Aaron Ross said.
This game was quite Bland, as in Shannon Bland, who hit two tying three-pointers at the end of regulation and the first overtime to keep Ellensburg (11-10) alive.
However, Ephrata had enough firepower in Kelsey Yenney (19 points), Abby Smith (12 points), and Heidi Buchert (10 points), to hold off the Bulldogs.
This weekend, Ephrata will play two games regardless of Friday's outcome. Prosser (19-1) also swept its season series with the Lady Tigers.