Ephrata girls beat Quincy in regular season finale
Rodney Harwood/Columbia Basin Herald Quincy defender Rachel Faw (30) gets a piece of Avery Mickelson of Ephrata’s shot during second-quarter action Friday night.
EPHRATA — Junior Avery Mickelsen scored nine of her game-high 13 points in the first quarter and the Ephrata girls basketball team rolled past Quincy 57-26 in the final Central Washington Athletic Conference regular season Friday night.
Ephrata (12-8, 10-8 CWAC) held Quincy to just two first-quarter points and finished with 34 second-half points for its 12th win of the season.
For the Jacks (2-18, 0-18 CWAC), it was their final game of the season. Natalie Thomsen led the team in scoring with 10 points. The 5-foot-10 senior had six of those points in the final quarter.
“I thought we played really, really well in the second half tonight,” said Ephrata coach Aaron Ross, whose team scored 17 points in both the third and fourth quarters. “I thought we transitioned well and that our effort was there. We took care of the ball and now we’re ready for the playoffs.”
Sophomore Sydnee Pixlee and junior Madison Martin had 10 points apiece for the Tigers, who held the Jacks to single-digit scoring in three of the four quarters.
The No. 5 Tigers will travel No. 4 Selah (10-10) on Tuesday for a loser-out game. The winner will play top-seeded Wapato (17-2).
The Tigers split with Selah during the regular season, so this is a pretty good match-up, Ross said.
“They have Adriel Willis, who was the player of the year in our league last year. So we’re going to have to know where she is at all times,” Ross said. “We’ve come a long ways since the beginning of the year. We’ve meshed, we’re figuring out our roles. We’re starting to see all the kids really start to play well.”
At this point in the season, Ross said, it’s just finding a way to win and live to see another day.
Score by quarters Quincy 2 9 4 11 - 26 Ephrata 15 8 17 17 - 57
Quincy - Ivania Chavez 2, Erica Camacho 4, Alysha Donovan 6, Rachel Faw 2, Natalie Thomsen 10, Mashayla Schaapman 2. Totals - Field goals: 10. 3-point goals: 0. Free throws: 6-13. Score: 26.
Ephrata - Kendall Kemp 2, Sarai Kibby 4, Avery Mickelsen 13, Mya Buchert 3, Maggie Buchert Izzy Buchert 2, Jamie Oxos 7, Katelyn Ostrowski 3, Sydnee Pixlee 10, Madison Martin 10. Totals - Field goals: 23. 3-point goals: 3. Free throws: 8-17. Score: 5