CHENEY - Heidi Buchert knocked down 17 points and Kelsey Yenney added 14 to lead the Ephrata Tigers to an exciting 50-48 win over Cheney Friday in the first round of the 2A regional tournament.

The game was see-saw battle as the lead changed hands several times throughout. The Tigers held a 13-11 lead at the end of the first quarter of action, but were down 30-17 at the half.

A 16-10 run by Ephrata in the third quarter got the Tigers back in the game, 40-33.

But the Blackhawks, seemingly still in control of the contest, stubbed their collective toes in the final quarter of play and were out scored by Ephrata 17-8 to drop the game by two points.

The victory over Cheney put the Tigers in a loser out game with No. 3 ranked East Valley Saturday.

East Valley 49

Ephrata 32

CHENEY - The Tigers needed one more win to make it to the state tournament this weekend at the Sun Dome in Yakima, but came up shy of their mark as they dropped the game to East Valley Saturday.

Ephrata's offensive never really got on track as the team scored just 11 points in the first 16 minutes of play and were down 25-11 at the half.

The Tigers put 21 points on the board in the second half of play, but the Red Devils added 24 to win going away.

Maddie Lotz had 10 points to lead the way for Ephrata. Buchert and Hailey Boyd had six points each, Yenney added four, and Sarah Pheasant and Kendra DeHoog finished with two points each in the losing effort.

Mikaela Zimmer was the leading scorer for East Valley with 18 points. Jamie Hodgson added 13, and Kellie Ross finished with nine.