Ephrata junior Payton Riggs, in white, brings the ball up the floor against East Valley (Yakima). The Ephrata boys defeated the Red Devils 51-49 Tuesday night.
IAN BIVONA/COLUMBIA BASIN HERALD
January 2, 2024
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Ephrata girls fall to East Valley
EPHRATA — Down by one with under a minute on the clock, Ephrata senior Alessa Soto drained a three-pointer to give Ephrata a 50-48 lead over East Valley (Yakima); however, the Red Devils answered with a three-pointer of their own on their next possession, defeating the Tigers 51-50 Tuesday night. “We were going possession for possession,” Ephrata Head Coach Alain Black said. “Alessa (Soto) hit that big shot for us to give us a chance to win it; we just struggled defensively with communicating and losing their people and knowing where they were.” The Tigers got the ball back with 30.5 seconds remaining in the game after a Red Devil turnover, where Soto gave Ephrata the lead with her three-pointer. East Valley took the ball up the floor and called back-to-back timeouts with 13.6 seconds left, then hit a three-pointer with 1.6 seconds left in the game.