Ephrata girls topple East Valley on senior night
Rodney Harwood/Columbia Basin HeraldEphrata point guard Katelyn Ostrowski (31) drives to the basket against Kalli Willett (11) of East Vally during Tuesday night's CWAC game in Ephrata.
Rodney Harwood/Columbia Basin HeraldEphrata senior Sarai Kibby (10) rotates the ball on the perimeter in the Tigers CWAC game against East Valley Tuesday night.
EPHRATA — The East Valley Red Devils scored 21 points in the final eight minutes or it wouldn’t have even been as close as it was in Tuesday night’s CWAC clash with Ephrata.
It was senior night in the Jungle and Tiger senior Katelyn Ostrowski was good for 15 points to lead the Ephrata girls to a 52-45 win over East Valley. Madison Martin was 5-of-7 from the free-throw line and finished with 13 points and eight rebounds. Avery Mickelsen, the third Tiger senior in double figures, came away with 10 points and nine rebounds for Ephrata, which improved to 11-9, 8-9 in the CWAC.
The last time these two teams met, it was East Valley with a 30-point win. But that wasn’t the case on senior night in the Jungle.
“I thought our defense looked, really, really good, particularly the first half,” Ephrata coach Aaron Ross said. “Offensively, we found the open players and limited our turnovers.
“We had solid bench play and overall, this was really a solid game for us.”
The Tigers held the Red Devils to single-digit scoring the first three quarters and took a 30-16 lead at the intermission. Ephrata went on a 7-0 run to close out the first half and was never really threatened.
“We really dug in on defense and that intensity kept us going,” Ostrowski said. “We had confidence going in on senior night and we dedicated ourselves to playing our hardest.
“I thought we closed out the regular season playing well and we feel confident going into the playoffs. I think we’re ready to play and feeling strong. We’re going to go for it, no matter what.”
Wapato (17-2, 16-1 CWAC) held off Grandview Tuesday night and will probably hold on to the top seed going into the CWAC playoffs. There could be a little movement between Prosser (15-4, 13-4), East Valley (13-6, 12-5) and Selah (12-7, 12-5) with one game to play. But Ephrata is secure in the No. 5 spot and will host a CWAC playoff game on Tuesday.
“This game gives us so much confidence after losing to (East Valley) by 30 down there,” Ross said. “Tonight we played with confidence and went out there and did our jobs. This was a great win for us.”
The Tigers finish up the regular season at Quincy on Friday
East Valley 8 8 8 21 - 45
Ephrata 11 19 9 13 - 52
East Valley - Natalie Andreas 3, Kalli Willett 2, Sydnee Hooker 10, Delanea Bivins 8, Corina Garza 4, Karina Hibbitt 2, Alyssa Valdez 5, Ashlyn Sylve 11. Totals: 13 13-21 45
Ephrata - Payton Hagy 3, Sarai Kibby 3, Avery Mickelsen 10, Mya Buchert 2, Izzy Buchert 2, Jamie Oxos 4, Katelyn Ostrowski 15, Madison Martin 13. Totals: 14 15-19 52