Tigers girls tennis rallies against Bulldogs
MIKE MAYNARD | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 8 months AGO
EPHRATA – The Ephrata Tigers girls tennis team went on the road and pulled off a tight 3-2 win over the Ellensburg Bulldogs on Thursday. It was a hard-fought win.
The Tigers would drop both singles matches, putting them in a 0-2 deficit. From there, it would be left to the doubles matchups. However, head coach Emily Allsopp was confident.
“I told my girls that we need to just play the tennis that we know we can play and focus on the basics,” she said.
The Tigers stayed true to that goal in their doubles matches, winning all three to secure a comeback victory. The first doubles match was won in two sets by Erika Morford and Ali Helaas.
It was much closer in doubles two and three, and it took the Tigers three sets to pull off the comeback. Jessica Mathis and Lilly Brewer had to stick it out the longest against the Bulldogs. They won the first set 6-4, dropped the second 3-6, then retook momentum, winning the third set after being down 0-4 and fighting back to 6-4.
Allsopp had high praise for the duo.
“They played probably the greatest game of tennis I've ever seen them play in my whole entire life,” Allsopp said. “Their resilience and ability to push past a second set loss is really impressive and honestly, really important and necessary when it comes to tennis.”
ARTICLES BY MIKE MAYNARD
Wahluke falls to Tri-Cities in home opener
MATTAWA — The Wahluke Warriors (0-1) were defeated 46-24 in their home opener by the Tri-Cities Prep Jaguars. Despite the loss, Head Coach Makai Hirai said he was proud of the effort his players gave on the court. “That was the biggest thing that I took away is we had a lot of effort. We have a lot of girls who are hungry, and the coaches were excited about (that). Our girls look pretty motivated ... they’re working hard,” Hirai said. The Jaguars started fast and held the lead the entire game. Tri-Cities Prep put up double-digit scores in each quarter except for the third. The Warriors finished strong with 10 points in the fourth quarter, but the Jaguars came out victorious.
From overtime thriller to championship stage
The Knights meet Cashmere once again
ROYAL CITY — On Friday, the No. 1 seed Royal Knights (12-0) will travel to Husky Stadium to play the No. 2 seed Cashmere Bulldogs (11-1) in the 1A state championship game. The Knights Head Coach Wiley Allred was not surprised to see the Bulldogs reach the state championship game. “I was hoping there wasn't a team better than them, because that's a pretty tough team right there. We'll meet our match,” Allred said. When these two met in October, it was the Knights pulling off a late comeback to win 21-15 in overtime. Coming into that game, both teams were undefeated. The Knights had only allowed seven points all season, while the Bulldogs had not allowed a score by any team.
Warriors fall short in home opener
MATTAWA — The Wahluke Warriors (0-1) were defeated 67-43 by the Tri-Cities Prep Jaguars Tuesday in their return to the hardwood. Wahluke Head Coach Anfernee Cortez said some of the loss may be attributed to first-game jitters. “We started too flat and just kind of dug ourselves into a hole early. Against a team like Tri-Cities Prep, it’s tough to catch up at that point,” Cortez said. A slow start by the Warriors allowed Tri-Cities Prep to take hold of the momentum early and build a commanding lead. In the first half, the Warriors struggled to knock down shots and attack the rim. The Jaguars carried their momentum into the second half to run away with the game. Wahluke had a stronger second-half showing, but Cortez said it was not enough to get back in the game.