EPHRATA — The Ephrata High School girls basketball team took an early lead and never looked back in a 56-36 win over Pullman High School in the first home game for the Tigers Saturday.

Head Coach Alain Black said that’s been the focus of the early season.

“That’s been our goal this year, is to get out strong and get going. Get off to a strong start, and then from there we can play with the things that we want to play with,” she said.

The Tigers took a 13-6 lead with three minutes left in the first quarter, benefitting from two three-point baskets from senior guard Molly Evenson and good execution that led to two additional baskets. Black said that comes from experience, which the Tigers have for 2023-24.

“We kind of have an advantage — we returned everyone,” she said. “We added two (players) to our team, but we returned everyone from last year’s team.

“Day three of practice, we’re able to start right into the offenses, right into everything that we’re doing. So that helps,” she said.

The Tigers went cold at the start of the second quarter, getting their first points with 4:20 left in the half. That allowed the Greyhounds to make a comeback, cutting the lead to 22-19. The Ephrata defense held Pullman to one additional basket in the second quarter, however, and Ephrata led 30-21 at the half. 

Ephrata senior center Addison Mills scored on a pass from senior guard Alessa Soto to push the lead to 40-26 with 2:35 left in the third quarter. Ephrata used good defense to disrupt the Pullman offense and led 44-28 at the end of the third. 

“Everyone needs to be a part of it,” Black said of the Tigers offense. “We need not just one and two - we need other teams to have to stop all five of us. Everyone’s a threat. There’s not one person I tell not to shoot, or not to do that, and they all know that. They all know that if they have the ball in their hands I’m trusting them to get the job done.”

This is Black’s second year as head coach, and she said one of the goals is to improve the team’s consistency. 

“We were all over the place last year. We surprised some teams — we played with a team who competed at state, and we played them to five points both times. And then we would lose to the last-place team,” she said.

“I think that’s what you’re going to see from us this year. That consistency in offense and consistency in defense,” she said. “I think we have a good shot at competing with all teams, and so I’m excited to see that with the girls and create that in their minds that they can go compete.”

Cheryl Schweizer may be reached at cschweizer@columbiabasinherald.com.

    Ephrata guard Alessa Soto (14) fires the ball downcourt against the Pullman defense.
  

    Tori Falconer (4), Ephrata center, pushes the ball up the floor in the Tigers’ 56-36 win over Pullman Saturday.
  

    Ephrata guard Alessa Soto (14) drives to the basket.
  

    Ephrata guard Olivia Bicondova (24) puts the ball up in Ephrata’s 56-36 win over Pullman.