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Ephrata 74, Omak 59
Game 9. (Loser out)
At Eastmont High School

Ephrata used its size advantage to dominate the scrappy Pioneers.
The Tigers opened the game with a three-point play by Mike Asher and Omak never really recovered.
Ephrata led 33-24 at the half and by as many as 19 points (64-45) in the second half.
"I think the key tonight was our intensity," said Ephrata coach Marty O'Brien. "We've been successful two times against Omak by playing their style of basketball (uptempo) and going inside because of our height advantage."
Ephrata's front line of Charlie Carlson (17 points) and Asher (13) dominated the key area all game long, both offensively and defensively in spite of Omak coach Wayne Hohman's full-court pressing tactics and constant substitution of fresh players.
Also scoring in double figures for the Tigers were Scott Smith and Corey Buchert, both 11 points, and Gary Hagy with 10.
Marty Staggs topped Omak with 18 points, Jay Staggs added 14, Casey Watts netted 12 and Lance Reid finished with 11. Of all the two-figure scorers on both teams, only Marty Staggs, Buchert and Asher are seniors.
O'Brien, whose team has been in the final four in the three of the past five years, the Tigers have yet to earn a state berth under him, believes his club is playing its best basketball right now.
"We've played three good games in a row," said O'Brien, referring to previous games against Quincy (a 50-43 win) and Cashmere (a 40-39 loss).
"I think one of the reasons we won tonight is because we came into the game with a lot of respect for Omak," said O'Brien. "I was really pleased with how hard all the kids played. It was nice to get some of your younger players involved, too."
Omak, which earned respect around the Caribou this season because of its hustling effort under Hohman, finished 12-11.
With only three seniors on the roster (two at the end of the year because of the injury loss to Jeff Richter), the Pioneers will probably be a team to reckon with next season. 

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Quincy 54, Tonasket 49
Game 10. (Loser out)
At Eastmont High School

Quincy can't repeat the North Central District "A" boys basketball title, the Jackrabbits earned last year, Ephrata ended that dream last week.
But the Jackrabbits are still in the hunt for one of the district's two State "A" tournament berths.
Coach Jim Spence's Jackrabbits surprised Tonasket Tuesday night at Eastmont High School and will get another crack at Ephrata.
It was clear from the opening tip, Quincy was ready to play, Tonasket wasn't.
The Jackrabbits simply out-hustled Tonasket, which finished second in the CTL standings to Cashmere and carried a glittering 18-4 record into the game.
Quincy bolted to an early 16-8 lead and trailed only once in the first half, when Tonasket scored just before the halftime buzzer to go on top, 30-28.
The Tigers hit the first basket of the second half to lead 32-28 but Quincy answered with eight straight points and never trailed again.
"A win against a first-division team, that's the big thing to us," said an elated Quincy coach Jim Spence. "We don't have the talent some of Quincy's teams have had in the past but I'd say these kids work harder than a lot of them. We're pleased, to say the least."
Quincy's game plan was to make Tonasket standout Bret Holmdahl work hard for his points.
"Holmdahl, he's their key to their team," said Spence. "If we can slow him down it's that much better for us. When you don't score a lot of points you have to play some defense."
Holmdahl scored 21 points but got off only 15 shots (hitting seven). The Quincy defense limited Holmdahl to just three fourth-quarter shots.
"We played tentatively," said a disappointed Tonasket coach Tim Ochs. "We didn't pass the ball well offensively and we didn't rebound well. I think the Oroville game took a little out of us. I think it was obvious Quincy wanted it more than us. Give them credit for being ready."
And all of the Jackrabbits were ready. Although only Shawn Phelps scored in double figures (16 points) seven of the eight Quincy players who played scored at least four points.
But even more important, Quincy took care of the basketball, committing only seven turnovers. And down the stretch Jackrabbits Jeff Vordahl and Phelps hit six of nine free throws while Tonasket missed four-of-five, three of them one-and-ones, Vordahl and Phelps accounted for all 10 of Quincy's fourth-quarter points.
Greg Tobin gave Quincy an early spark, hitting his first three shots. Tobin, Travis Nelson and Jay Taylor led Quincy's board play and bottled up the Tonasket offense with their work in the Quincy zone.
For Tonasket, Tony Caddy did a good job on the boards and also kept his team in contention with a key basket in the final minutes.
"It's sad for the seniors because the last two games were not indicative of their talents," said Ochs. "In a tournament one game can make or break your season. We might have made Quincy's season tonight. We had tow bad games in a row."
"With Holmdahl on our team we won 80 percent of our games the past three years," said Ochs. "It wasn't just Holmdahl, though. All the seniors on this team were good leaders, good role players."

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Ephrata 51, Quincy 43
Game 11. (Loser out)
At Eastmont High School

If there is such a thing as momentum, Ephrata has definitely got it.
The intense Tigers shot a blistering 68 percent in the first half (11 of 16) and 54 percent for the game (19 of 35) in eliminating the hard-working crew from Quincy.
Ephrata controlled Quincy on the boards as well, dominating that department, 31-13. The Tigers also were effective at the foul line, hitting 13-of-19.
In short, it was just another sharp performance by Ephrata, their fourth good game in a row, all in this tournament.
"The key for us was we went out in a pressure game and shot so well." said Ephrata coach Marty O'Brien. It wasn't just one player either. Everybody shot well. We played pretty smart basketball. We weren't overzealous. We adapted well to the conditions and played with poise, something not all my teams have done in big games."
O'Brien got no disagreement from Quincy coach Jim Spence.
"When people shoot the way Ephrata did, what can you do?" said Spence. "Charlie Carlson and Mike Asher dominated us inside and Gary Hagy and Scott Smith hit from outside. They've got a good club. They deserved to win."
Quincy started off hot itself, twice leading by four points in the first quarter. But Hagy, Carlson and Buchert all started clicking the second period and by halftime Ephrata owned a 26-20 lead.
Quincy got to within five points three times, the last at 46-41 on two Shawn Phelps free throws with 1:42 to play.
But Asher scored the four Ephrata points to ice the win.
Carlson topped Ephrata with 18 points (7-of-10 from the field) and Hagy added 10 (5-of-6). Both are sophomores.
Phelps paced Quincy with 16 and Greg Tobin finished with 12.
"This team has great motivation," said O'Brien of his Tigers. "They're a very serious team. We want to prove externally that we know internally: that we belong in the limelight in this league, too. This game has thrust us into the limelight."
For Quincy, the year has to be considered a good one also.
The Jackrabbits, district champs a year ago but with many new faces, made their coach happy this season.
"I can't express how proud I am of this team," said Spence. "Nobody expected us to make it this far. The kids played the game hard and as a coach that's all I can expect." 

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Cashmere 58, Oroville 54 (OT)
Game 12. (Championship, winner to state)
At Eastmont High School

It has been said history often repeats itself. But Rob Martin had no idea it would happen twice in one week.
The Cashmere senior, for the second game in a row, swished home a pressure-packed shot, this time with three seconds remaining in overtime, to give the Bulldogs a hair-raising triumph over Oroville for the North Central District "A" boys basketball championship at jam-packed Eastmont High School.
Maybe it's better to be lucky than good. Cashmere was a little of both.
Cashmere hardly looked like a champion down the stretch, missing free throw after free throw, any one of which probably would have put the fire out of the Hornets' determined comeback.
Oroville, down 41-33 entering the fourth quarter, still trailed 49-45 with 26 seconds to play in regulation. But Cashmere turned the ball over. Aaron Small scored with 18 ticks left and then Cashmere turned it over again with 13 seconds showing on the clock.
With just six seconds left, Oroville sub Richie Kowatsch, in the game only because fouls had claimed three Hornet players, swished in a 20-footer from the corner, tying the game at 49-all.
It was the first time Oroville had ever been even or ahead since late in the second period, when the Hornets forged a momentary 19-18 advantage.
By late in the fourth quarter it was a matter of survival for both teams. Mike Thornton, Peter Lucas and Darcy Rounds of Oroville all were spectators because of five fouls apiece. So were Cashmere's Craig Wise and John Lippert.
That left it up to the unknowns, guys like Kowatsch and Darrell Rounds for Oroville, and Eric James and Brian Paine for Cashmere.
All four players performed remarkably well in the spotlight, in front of 2,062 paid fans.
Darrell Rounds hit a clutch free throw for the Hornets. James downed three of four free throws, including two swishers in the overtime. Paine grabbed several key rebounds banked in a vital put-back basket and bounced in a free throw high off the back-iron, with 18 seconds remaining in overtime, tying the game at 54-all.
Darryn Trainor, shut off by Martin after a red-hot start, was fouled on Paine's second (missed) free throw. But Trainor couldn't connect on the front end of a one-and-one with 17 seconds left.
Cashmere controlled the rebound and worked the ball up court. Martin, on the weak side, away from the ball, sprung free, and had a clear shot at the basket from left of the lane, about 15 feet out. The shot hit nothing but net.
The Bulldogs, as Aaron Kelly put it, "nearly choked it away."
Cashmere hit only 18-of-37 free throws in the game.
But a lot of credit must be given to the Hornets, who scrapped their way back into the game when it appeared Cashmere was about to run away and hide.
Joe Osborne, Trainor and Thornton spearheaded Oroville's fourth-quarter surge, in which the Hornets outscored Cashmere 16-8 to knot the game.
Thornton led Oroville with 17 points. Trainor had 14, but only five after the first period thanks to the hard work defensively by Martin.
For Cashmere, Marc Pflugrath earned high-point honors with 12 points, the first time all season he had led the team in scoring.
Wise totaled 11 and Kelly had 10.
Both Pflugrath and Lippert were instrumental in Cashmere's 29-26 rebounding edge.
Of Note: Referee Randy Boruff may not have been hit by an object thrown onto the court during Friday night's District Class "A" championship game between Cashmere and Oroville at Eastmont High.
The Grant County official instead probably  suffered ligament damage, according to tournament director and former Cashmere boys basketball coach, Ike Cummings.
"Two medical people felt there was a definite tear in his ligament, said Cummings.
Cummings reprimanded the crowd, because at the time (1) Boruff felt he had been struck by an object and (2) several fans claimed to have seen an object thrown in the area.
He was replaced by Mike Lampe, who had officiated the earlier contest between Quincy and Ephrata.

Ephrata 57, Oroville 54
Game 13. (Winner to state, loser out)
At Eastmont High School

As boys basketball coach Marty O'Brien put it, Ephrata's 57-54 victory over Oroville at Eastmont High Saturday night was "for every kid who has played basketball at Ephrata in the past five years. This team represents all those kids. They all share in this victory."
The euphoric Tigers, hard-luck losers in the North Central District "A" tournament in recent seasons, rose to the occasion to eliminate an Oroville team trying to bounce back form a heart-breaking overtime loss to Cashmere on Friday.
The victory lands Ephrata a berth in the State Class "A" tournament against South Whidbey (19-4).
"We've finally reached the promised land," O'Brien said of the trip to Tacoma. "This is an emotional moment for me because we've all worked so hard to make Ephrata basketball respectable. I know one thing: We're going to be the happiest team ever to go to State."
Ephrata, down by 23-14 early in the second period, refused to back off from their patient offensive game-plan which in the end would make the difference in the outcome.
The Tigers, led by a couple of sophomores playing like seniors, Gary Hagy and Charlie Carlson, shot an incredible 60.5 percent from the field (23-of-38). Carlson was 8-for-9 from the floor and totaled 18 points. Hagy finished with 17 points, including 7-of-8 free throws in the fourth quarter.
The sharp-shooting Hagy scored 11 of Ephrata's 16 fourth quarter points.
Oroville, starting quickly, established control of the game late in the first period and stayed on top until Hagy connected with 6:59 left to put Ephrata on top, 43-42. The Tigers never trailed again, although Darryn Trainor and Mike Thornton kept Oroville in contention right down to the final minutes of play.
"You've got to credit Hagy and Carlson," said a tearful coach Allen Jefferson, who was trying to direct his Hornets to their third straight state tournament berth in his three years at Oroville. "Nobody has played a better second half against us. The third quarter was the key. They turned the whole tempo of the game around in the third quarter."
Oroville was still in command at the half, 27-21, but Corey Buchert, Carlson and Mike Asher all banged in baskets to start the third quarter.
From that point on, the momentum mushroomed to Ephrata and never changed again. In the third quarter, Buchert stroked in four straight field goals as Ephrata shot 10-for-13 from the field and closed the gap t 42-41 entering the fourth quarter.
Why has this Ephrata team, one of the youngest groups O'Brien has had in his five years at the helm, been the first to land a state berth under his fiery leadership?
"I think we have good, overall talent for one thing," O'Brien said. "They play together better than any team I've had. They take advantage of what is given them. Even though our bench didn't get to play too much during this tournament, nobody complained. That's important. We're all in this thing together."
O'Brien also paid tribute to the Hornets, especially to their coach.
"Allen Jefferson does the best coaching job of all of us (in the Caribou)," said O'Brien. "If you're around long enough, like I've been, you're going to get lucky once in awhile. But he turned Oroville around in one season. He gets maximum effort from his players all the time."
Trainor closed out his illustrious three-year stint with Oroville with a magnificent 25-point game, including 9-of-12 from the field.
"I'm prejudiced because I'm his coach but Darryn Trainor is the best player in the Caribou," said Jefferson. "I know there's a lot of good players in the league but I'll take him."
Thornton closed out with 13 points, hitting his last four field goal attempts, Aaron Small and Joey Osborne also turned in solid efforts for Oroville, as did reserve Darcy Rounds.
"Winning is a whole lot easier than this," Jefferson said. "We've worked awfully hard at Oroville the last three years. Tonight is like a death in the family because the kids have really paid the price to get where they are. We've really upgraded the program.
"We're not discouraged. We're just treating this as a temporary setback."

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Tournament Scoring Leaders