ELLENSBURG - A hot finish is better than a cold one and the Ephrata Lady Tigers are showing that as they rolled past Wapato 51-39 on Saturday to clam the third seed out of the District 5/6/7 and have qualified for the regional round of the Class 2A state tournament.

Heidi Buchert led Ephrata (15-10) with 17 points, Kelsey Yenney added 13 points and Abby Smith added 10 points and 13 rebounds for a team that had won five out of its last seven games.

On Friday, the surging Lady Tigers sealed their regional tournament berth by knocking off the Class 2A's fourth-ranked Clarkston squad 52-50 at CWU in a District 5/6/7 loser out game.

Buchert led Ephrata with 20 points, while Yenney added 11 points.

Ephrata now play Prosser on Friday at 7:30 p.m. at CWU for a chance to advance to the  state finals in Yakima.