Rebounding and defense.

These are the two things that King’s coach Eric Rasmussen’s team takes pride in when they step foot on the court.

In their opening game at the 2A state tournament against Ephrata, the Knights proved just how much pride they take.

Danielle Clauson of King's drives to the basket and looks to shoot past the defense of Ephrata's Kellee Neal in the first half Wednesday.   GORDON KING/Yakima Herald-Republic

Led by a swarming pressure defense that forced 25 turnovers, including 17 in the first half, the Knights rolled past the Lady Tigers 60-37 at the Yakima Valley SunDome.

“Our goal is to hold teams down rather than score more points than they do,” Rasmussen said. “We were fortunate to do that today.”

The Knights also outrebounded Ephrata 35-30, including grabbing 15 offensive boards.

“The kids played really hard today,” Rasmussen added. “We’re not taking anybody for granted here, so this was a good win for us.”

King’s shot 43.1 percent (25 of 58) from the field in the game, and were led by Sara Mosiman, who scored a game-high 22 points on 9 of 12 shooting, including 20 points in the first half.

Sarah Strand had 18 points and nine rebounds, and Danielle Clauson added 13 points.

King's next advances to a 4 p.m. quarterfinal matchup Thursday against either Chelan or Forks.

“Chelan is a very good team,” Rasmussen noted. “They dominated their league and are very balanced.”

“But we’ve got a good group of kids that have played together for five years. ”

Kyla Whitaker paced Ephrata (11-14) with 15 points, Kellee Neal had 10 points and nine rebounds, and Courtney Webb had 10 points.

Ephrata -- Whitaker 5-14 4-5 15, Conklin 0-0 0-2 0, Duff 0-0 0-0 0, Joe 0-0 0-0 0, Webb 4-8 0-0 10, Purcell 0-1 2-2 2, Neal 5-9 0-3 10, Nelson 0-1 0-0 0, Le. Lange 0-0 0-2 0, La. Lange 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 14-36 6-14 37.
King's -- Jack 1-3 0-0 2, Strand 7-12 3-4 18, Clauson 6-13 0-0 13, Trautmann 0-2 0-0 0, Faidley 1-8 0-0 2, Friar 1-1 0-0 2, Louie 0-1 0-0 0, Thompson 0-2 1-2 1, Cutright 0-4 0-0 0, Mosiman 9-12 4-5 22, Irish 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-58 8-11 60.
Ephrata	10	7	10	10	--	37
King's	19	14	17	10	--	60
3-point goals--E 3-10 (Webb 2-4, Whitaker 1-4, Neal 0-1, McDonnell 0-1), K 2-13 (Strand 1-2, Clauson 1-4, Louie 0-1, Faidley 0-2, Cutright 0-4). Rebounds--E 30 (Neal 9), K 35 (Strand 9). Assists--E 8 (Neal 4), K 9 (Strand 3, Clauson 3). Steals--E 3 (Neal 3), K 14 (Mosiman 5). Blocked shots--E 0, K 4 (Clauson 2). Fouled out--None. Total fouls--E 7, K 15. Technical fouls--None. Turnovers--E 25, K 11.