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Jacks battling in tight CWAC
In a boys basketball season that's shaping up as a truly remarkable one in the Central Washington Athletic Conference, absolutely nothing can be assumed or guaranteed.
This is a league in which nine of the 10 teams can make a strong run at a top four seed; the parity is so strong that Prosser, currently in ninth place, could beat Wapato, the team at the top, and it probably wouldn't be considered a huge upset.
This is a league in which close games are to be expected nightly, and it's kind of surprising when a team posts a blowout win.
This is a league in which one league co-leader can fail to make a basket and get outscored 23-5 in the fourth quarter against its rival, the other league co-leader, and still breeze its way to a relatively easy 10-point victory, as Wapato did to Toppenish on Saturday.
That's why when Quincy raced out to a 16-point halftime lead on rival Ephrata last Saturday, the Tigers didn't think for a second that they were out of the game. After all, they were just one 18-0 run away from getting back into the game.
That's exactly what they got.
Ephrata stormed back to post a 51-49 win that was as enrapturing as it was stunning. It also left both teams at 4-4. Ellensburg is also at 4-4, tied for fifth in a tightly bunched CWAC, two games behind league leaders Wapato and Toppenish, who both boast 6-2 marks. Othello and an improving Grandview team sit at 5-3.
The Jacks were no doubt on a high after dispatching the high-scoring Wolves 64-58 on Friday with one of their better defensive efforts of the season. A win on Saturday against Ephrata could've left the Jacks tied with the Greyhounds and Huskies for second place, but Quincy coach Wade Petersen thinks his team is still in good shape as the season nears its midway point.
"Versus Wapato we were able to withstand their run and make our own to finish off the game," Petersen said. "Saturday night's loss was a tale of two halves. We had difficulty scoring in the second half and Ephrata scored with too much ease.
"Each game only counts for one win or one loss, so neither game was bigger and more crucial than the other. We just want to get to the point where we are playing our best basketball as the season comes down the home stretch. We want to focus on what our team can do to reach its maximum potential. Nothing else matters."
Quincy certainly doesn't want to end the season in the spot it's currently in; seeds five through eight play loser-out games against each other in the first round of this year's reconfigured district tournament. The top two seeds get two byes in districts and need to win just one game to go to state; the third and fourth seeds receive one bye.
"It's pretty important to get these regular season games," Petersen said. "There are going to be some teams that are pretty solid that are going to be left out (because) only three get to go (to state). It's a free-for-all."
• The Quincy girls basketball team has been going through some tough times lately; this weekend the Lady Jacks lost their fourth and fifth league games in a row to Wapato and Ephrata, falling to 2-6 and eighth place in the CWAC.
But there was a bright spot that came out of Saturday's 52-41 loss to the Lady Tigers — the play of senior post Colleen Knodell.
Knodell, a four-year varsity player, had her best game of the season, posting 19 points. She displayed a variety of strong post moves inside, finished shots, crashed the boards with authority for putbacks, hit free throws and tried her best to almost single-handedly will Quincy back from a first-half double-digit deficit.
To put it simply, she looked inspired.
"She's our only senior and we're playing Ephrata," coach Cully Donovan told the Post-Register after the game. "You can tell she left it on the court and did everything she could."
Knodell's point total was the highest any Lady Jack has scored in any game this season. If Knodell can find a way to repeat her performance from Saturday during games in the second half of the season, Quincy is going to be in good shape to qualify for the district tournament.
• The Quincy wrestling team rebounded from a mini two-match losing streak with a close win over a winless Wapato squad last Thursday. The Jacks are dealing with some injury issues right now and as a result are going through a little bit of a lull, but if they're completely healthy by the time the postseason rolls around, they should be fine.
The Jacks finished in eighth place in last weekend's Ray Westberg Invitational in Ellensburg. Tim Silvas was the Jacks' top finisher, winning the 125-pound weight class with another statement win over Ellensburg's Tim Sanders.
Quincy had two other grapplers take third in their respective weight classes — Carlos Magana at 119 pounds and Manny Ybarra at 135 pounds.
• After missing three weeks because of a dislocated knee, Quincy High graduate Chris Pontarolo-Maag is back on the court for the Gonzaga men's basketball team. Pontarolo-Maag, who is suiting up for the first year as a redshirt junior for the Zags, played the last couple of minutes of his team's 95-53 win over Santa Clara last Thursday. Pontarolo-Maag grabbed a rebound and had a shot attempt.
• Speaking of ex-Quincy players shining at the next level, Tashia Zamarron, a freshman at Wenatchee Valley College, led the Knights with a game-high 21 ponts, seven rebounds and two steals in their 66-58 loss to Big Bend on Saturday.
Contact Doug Flanagan at reporter@qvpr.com or through Facebook:
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