EPHRATA — The Ephrata Tigers and Moses Lake Mavericks basketball teams faced off in their first game of the season on the Tigers home court. It was a close competition, but ultimately the Mavs came out on top with a 48-37 victory. 

“It was a little slow in the beginning, but I think it’s just the first game of the season. I think we have really good guys and I’m excited for the season,” said Taggart Rathbun, a junior for the Mavs.  

The Tigers took control in the first quarter, scoring 13 points and holding the Mavs to only three. Moses Lake quickly turned things around in the second quarter, where they scored 17 points to tie up the game at 20-20 at the end of the half.

Both teams kept up the pressure and had the game remained close throughout the third quarter, but Moses Lake would gain a three-point lead. This physical game would come to a head in the fourth quarter as the Mavs took a strong lead by scoring 16 points to the Tigers' eight and end the game 48-37.  

“They have a lot of good players and it was a good wake-up call,” said Rathbun. 

He said it will be important for the Mavs to not be overly confident moving forward and the team will spend some time at practice in the coming weeks working on their mentality and building up their energy for the season ahead.  

Mavs head coach Craig Groth said breaking the rust off was essential during this game, and it showed during his players' performance in the first quarter. This game showed them how much the team needs to still work on, things they wouldn’t be able to see from practice alone, he said. 

Playing against Ephrata taught MLHS a valuable lesson of bringing full effort into each of their matchups, Groth said. This season will have the Mavs facing multiple games where they will have to claw their way to victory, and this game was a good start in teaching them that, he said. 

“Now that we can see it in the game, we’re able to watch it, (we’re) able to talk about it, and we’ll be able to build on it,” said Groth. 

During the early season, the Mavs will work on building up chemistry, which he said will be the most crucial aspect of a successful season. Following Tuesday’s matchup, the team showed what they are capable of, but it will still take work to get them to put up a strong performance for a full 32 minutes. 

“Chemistry is going to be the biggest thing,” said Groth. “We’ve got many guys that can play multiple minutes for us, we’ve just got to find the right combinations for us to get on some good runs.” 

Wyatt Schluckebier, a senior for the Tigers, said despite the loss, he felt the team had a great performance for their first game of the season.  

“I think it looks pretty good for us,” said Schluckebier. “I think this is a pretty tall team, taller than we’re going to play, and I think we rebounded really well. We played really well inside and we’re going to need to keep doing that in our conference and I think we’ll do really good.” 

One of the goals he said the Tigers have set for themselves this season is to be in the top four in the Central Washington Athletic Conference and make a push for a state playoff berth. Tuesday’s game showed the team where they need to improve in terms of ball control and how they need to compete, he said. 

Tigers head coach Rick Walter said this game helped both teams shake off the rust. He was impressed with the way the team bounced back and kept it close for the majority of the game, he said. 

“I was pleased with it,” said Walter. “I think we saw some stuff we really liked and some stuff we’ve got to fix.” 

One of the main struggles that Ephrata faced was committing fouls, which the coach said they’ll work on. 

This game was also a great setup for the season, as it allowed the Tigers to test their skills against a tough 4A opponent for their first matchup. Walter said this forced his players to match that level of energy and it will be something they can carry on once they begin league play. 

The Mavs will have a short preparation period before their next two games on Thursday and Friday against some tough 3A and 4A opponents, but Groth said the focus will be on the basics and cleaning up their defense. He hopes that this matchup against Ephrata will help push the Mavs in the right direction as they move forward this season, he said. 

“Ephrata is a good team; they’re going to have a good year,” he said. “We knew it was going to be a tough game coming in and hopefully we learn from our mistakes, build on it and be a successful program.” 

In preparation for their next matchup, Walter said the Tigers are going to focus on not allowing as many turnovers and, reflecting what Schluckebier said, have better control of the ball. Their aim each week will be to constantly work to improve their game and make sure that they are ready to go for their next matchup. 

“It’s a bunch of new guys in some big roles and it’s fun to watch them compete,” said the coach. “Just give them minutes and see what they can do.” 

Moses Lake will be on the road Thursday to face Kennewick at 7:30 p.m. and then will come home to face Ferris Friday at 7 p.m. Ephrata will be on the road this Friday at 7:15 p.m. to face Chelan. 

BOX SCORE:  

EPHT: 13-7-9-8: 37 

MLHS: 3-17-12-16: 48 

EPHRATA TIGERS ROSTER:  

Name, Jersey, Grade 

Wyatt Schluckebier, 4, 12 

Cooper Black, 10, 12 

Brady Hendrick, 12, 12 

Cody Ogle, 14, 12 

Deon Martinez, 20, 12 

Jose Barrita, 22, 11 

Mitchell Morford, 24, 11 

Jett Julian, 30, 11 

Caiden Weber, 32, 11 

Benson Bair, 34, 11 

Brice Strickler, 40, 12 

MOSES LAKE MAVERICKS ROSTER: 

Name, Jersey, Grade 

Carter Anderson, 1, 12 

Brady Jay, 2, 12 

Tyce Miller, 5, 12 

Tag Rathbun, 12, 11 

Grady Walker, 15, 12 

TJ Jones, 22, 11 

Theo Kalasountas, 23, 12 

Kaden Dominguez, 24, 12 

Caden Barney, 30, 11 

Andrew Levy, 33, 12 

Kyre Wiltbank, 50, 12 

    Ephrata senior Wyatt Schluckebier stops after finding an opening and goes for three against the Mavericks.
  

    Mavs senior Tyce Miller finds himself an open court to make a layup with the Tigers defense behind him.
  

    Cooper Black, a senior with the Tigers, runs underneath the net to sink the ball for two during Tuesday’s matchup against the Mavs.
  

    MLHS senior Brady Jay sprints toward the hoop to add two points for the Mavericks during Tuesday’s game against Ephrata.
  

    Grady Walker, a senior for the Mavs, races against Tigers junior Mitchell Morford as Walker makes a push toward the hoop in hopes of adding on to the Moses Lake score.