EPHRATA — The Othello Huskies boys basketball team earned a 71-68 victory over the Ephrata Tigers on Tuesday evening. This victory helped the Huskies secure a spot in the postseason as they aim toward a top five spot on the district tournament bracket. 

“I’m just so proud of these guys for pulling it out when the odds were against us there for a minute, and they just fought through, and they got the job done,” said Huskies Head Coach Juan Garcia. 

The Tigers came out strong in the first quarter as they pulled ahead of the Huskies to gain a one-point lead at the end of the quarter. This continued into the second quarter as Ephrata once again just outscored Othello by one to go into the half 36-34. 

Coming back from halftime, the Tigers added onto their lead with two threes from Caiden Weber and another three-pointer from Cody Ogle. The Tigers defense held Othello to 13 points by the end of the quarter as Ephrata held a 53-47 lead. 

In the fourth quarter, the Huskies mounted a comeback through Trey Tovar's defensive plays and LJ Nunez getting hot on offense. The Tigers and Huskies tied at 63-63 with 1:38 left on the clock.  

“I told them just trust each other, just chip at it one bucket at a time,” said Garcia. 

Nunez secured victory for the team in the short amount of time as he made a layup and sunk four straight free throws. Tigers senior Brady Hendrick scored two more points, but the buzzer rang out ending the game with a three-point victory for the Huskies.  

The Huskies coach said that this game was a big lesson for the team in how basketball is a game of runs and that anything can happen to change the outcome of the game.  

“Anything can happen as long as you don’t put your head down and you just keep playing through the adversity,” he said. “It just shows that when you do something together and you go through the gameplan as planned, good things will happen.” 

Tigers Head Coach Rick Walter said it was a very intense matchup between the two teams and the Ephrata players all played very well, but it ultimately came down to who had the better mindset in the final minutes of the game. 

“I thought we played pretty good, they shared the ball well, kids stepped up and hit some really good shots. It was awesome to watch,” said Walter. “Just at the end we had a look to tie it – didn't go in, but that’s going to happen at times.”  

He said being in close games such as this are the best training for a team to experience during the season as the energy and pressure is hard to mimic at practice. He said the team is going to focus on how good their effort was and carry that into the remainder of the regular season. 

The Tigers are still in play for a slot in the postseason as they are tied with East Valley. Winning the next few conference matchups will be integral to staying in the competition. 

With the Huskies automatically qualifying for a play-in game following this victory, the team has now set its sights on earning a fourth or fifth seed berth, said Garcia. The best route for Othello to take that spot from Ellensburg will be through defensive play as they look to overcome Ellensburg for the number four slot. 

This has been a very exciting season for the Huskies and Garcia said he feels amazing after going from a winless season to now clinching a spot in the postseason. 

“Just having everybody locked in and I’m starting to see a culture change,” he said. “The younger kids are seeing how excited we are in the locker room after we win and they’re wanting to be a part of it.” 

The Huskies will travel to Selah on Friday at 7 p.m. for their next matchup, and the Tigers are heading on the road to face Ellensburg at 7 p.m. 

BOX SCORE:  

OTHL: 15-19-13-24: 71
EPHT: 16-20-17-15: 68 

    Josh Lawson, a senior from the Huskies, looks for an opening during the game against Ephrata Tuesday evening.
  

    Tigers junior Benson Bair, left, works to get around Huskies senior Luis Farias Villanueva, right.