EHS boys wane in final seconds; girls struggle as Wildcats sweep
The Ephrata basketball teams dropped a CWAC doubleheader to Toppenish on Friday, Jan 9. The boys blew a four-point lead with 19 seconds left in a 53-51 heartbreaker, while the girls fell 58-13.
Heartbreaker: Tigers blow late lead, fall 53-51 to Toppenish
EPHRATA — The Ephrata boys basketball team led Toppenish by four with 19 seconds left to play Friday night, but walked off Marty O’Brien Court with a loss.
The Wildcats (8-4, 5-3 CWAC) rallied for six points in the final moments to stun the Tigers, 53-51, in Central Washington Athletic Conference play.
Throughout the contest, neither team could pull away. Ephrata built a 14-8 first-quarter lead, but Toppenish grabbed a 25-24 halftime edge. The Tigers answered with a 12-8 third quarter for a 36-33 lead entering the final period.
The late fourth-quarter mayhem came after Brady Hendrick hit a pair of free throws to put Ephrata up 51-47 with 27 seconds remaining. The Wildcats answered when their leading scorer, Alex Bazan, sank a heavily contested three-pointer to narrow the deficit, 51-50, with 16 seconds on the clock.
Emerging from a timeout, Toppenish deployed a 2-2-1 full-court press and picked off an inbound pass. Wildcat Lyle Wapsheli then converted on a short jumper in the paint, drawing a foul in the process. Wapsheli sank the free throw and the quick three-point turnaround put Toppenish up, 53-51, with 10 seconds remaining.
In the final frenetic moments, Toppenish stayed in the press. The Tigers managed to inbound the ball, but turned it over in the backcourt with five seconds showing. Two quick fouls sent Toppenish to the line, but they missed both free throws. After Cooper Black grabbed a rebound, Tiger coach Rick Walter called timeout with 3.5 seconds remaining.
In the waning moments, Cody Ogle launched a football-style pass to Hendrick, whose baseline jumper missed. Black managed to grab the offensive board but couldn't get the putback off before the buzzer. Game over.
For the night, Hendrick led Ephrata with 13 points and eight rebounds. Julian came off the bench and didn't miss, hitting both three-point attempts on his way to nine points on 3-for-3 shooting. Black added nine points, six rebounds, six assists and three steals.
Junior point guard Bazan let the Wildcats with 18 points on the night.
Overall, the Tigers shot 34% from the field (17-50) and went 11-for-19 (63%) at the free throw line – misses that were certainly felt in the loss. They also committed a collective 16 turnovers in the contest.
Dipping to 3-9 for the season and 2-6 in the CWAC, Ephrata travels to Prosser tonight, Jan. 13, before hosting 10th-ranked Grandview this Friday, Jan. 16, with a 7 p.m. tipoff at Marty O’Brien Court.
| Player | FG | 3PT | FT | REB | AST | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hendrick | 4-15 | 1-3 | 4-8 | 8 | 0 | 13 |
| Julian | 3-3 | 2-2 | 1-2 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| Black | 2-4 | 0-0 | 5-8 | 6 | 6 | 9 |
| Ogle | 3-7 | 1-3 | 1-1 | 6 | 1 | 8 |
| Bair | 2-7 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 7 | 2 | 4 |
| Barrita | 1-5 | 1-5 | 0-0 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Wilson | 1-3 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Strickler | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Schluckebier | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Weber | 0-4 | 0-3 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Martinez | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| TOTALS | 17-50 | 6-18 | 11-19 | 37 | 10 | 51 |
| Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | F | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ephrata | 14 | 10 | 12 | 15 | 51 |
| Toppenish | 8 | 17 | 8 | 20 | 53 |
CWAC Scoreboard: Tuesday, Jan. 6 Selah 77, Prosser 39 | Othello 75, Ellensburg 71 | Ephrata 57, East Valley (Yakima) 54 OT | Toppenish 70, Quincy 47
Friday, Jan. 9 Selah 72, Ellensburg 48 | Grandview 90, Prosser 74 | Othello 99, East Valley (Yakima) 66 | Toppenish 53, Ephrata 51
Saturday, Jan. 10 Selah 68, Grandview 67 | Prosser 67, Quincy 65 | Othello 69, Toppenish 60 | Ellensburg 62, East Valley (Yakima) 57
Ephrata girls struggle offensively in Toppenish defeat
EPHRATA — The Lady Tigers fell to Toppenish 58-13 on Friday, dropping to 0-12 overall and 0-8 in Central Washington Athletic Conference play.
Ephrata was held scoreless in the second quarter as Toppenish (8-4, 5-3 CWAC) took a 26-6 halftime lead.
Sophie Molitor and Maycee Black each scored four points to pace Ephrata. Evangeline Springs added three points and seven rebounds, and Rebecca Wiser came off the bench to also grab seven boards.
Ephrata faces a challenging week ahead with two games against WIAA top-10 opponents. The Lady Tigers travel to No. 7 Prosser tonight (Jan. 13) and will host No. 5 Grandview on Friday, Jan. 16.
| Player | FG | 3PT | FT | REB | AST | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Molitor | 1-5 | 0-2 | 2-2 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Black | 2-5 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| Springs | 1-1 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 7 | 0 | 3 |
| Cobb | 0-1 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Malone | 0-4 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| Wiser | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| St. Mary | 0-3 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| Addink | 0-3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| Kono | 0-3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Falconer | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| TOTALS | 4-27 | 0-2 | 5-14 | 36 | 4 | 13 |
| Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | F | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ephrata | 6 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 13 |
| Toppenish | 15 | 11 | 15 | 17 | 58 |
CWAC Scoreboard: Tuesday, Jan. 6 — Selah 52, Prosser 48 | Ellensburg 70, Othello 16 | East Valley (Yakima) 58, Ephrata 12 | Toppenish 75, Quincy 35
Friday, Jan. 9 — Selah 48, Ellensburg 59 | Grandview 41, Prosser 70 | Othello 30, East Valley (Yakima) 38 | Toppenish 58, Ephrata 13
Saturday, Jan. 10 — Selah 48, Grandview 70 | Prosser 87, Quincy 15 | Toppenish 74, Othello 47 | Ellensburg 61, East Valley (Yakima) 20
