Chiefs lose to Pirates in home opener

MOSES LAKE — Coach Brant Mayo thinks Moses Lake has now learned the value of being mentally prepared to play on back-to-back nights in the Big Nine Conference.

The Chiefs looked flat Saturday against Davis and needed a late surge of energy to keep the game close in a 76-70 loss, after beating Pasco Friday.

"We just really didn't play well tonight in any aspect of the game," Mayo said after Saturday's loss. "Energy wise we didn't show up."

After being down by as many as 18 points, Moses Lake (1-1) began pressing Davis late in the second half to close within six points in the final seconds.

For Moses Lake it wasn't enough.

"It showed tremendous heart to come back," Mayo said. "We shouldn't have put ourselves in that situation."

Davis (2-0) led the game from the opening basket and out rebounded Moses Lake in every category.

"We hit it hard," Davis head coach Eli Juarez said. "I think we set the tone right away and that was important for us."

Juarez said that Moses Lake is a tough place to get a road victory but by rebounding aggressively on both offense and defense, and making the crucial fee throws when they had the chance, they were able to come out on top.

Moses Lake failed to convert from the free throw line, making only 13 of 28 shots during the game. They shot better in the second half, with 57 percent from the stripe.

Besides making fundamental mistakes, Moses Lake was out hustled, grabbing 37 rebounds to Davis' 53.

Davis' fast break style offense was too chaotic and kept Moses Lake from getting players in position on defense.

Mayo called it "rat ball," and said, "That's their style. They want to make the game look ugly and they did that tonight."

Junior guard Nico Sandoval made things look the ugliest, scoring 32 points for Davis, 22 of which came in the second half. Adam Stewart added 14 points and three blocked shots. Brett Felton added 13 points and led all rebounders with 17, giving Davis the definite advantage in that category.

Moses Lake received a solid game from BJ Guerra who made six of nine field goals from close range and whose 10 rebounds were double the output of any other teammate. Guerra also was able to convert 6-of-10 from the free throw line.

Senior guard Mitchell Roylance tallied 13 points and freshman guard Joshua Loera scored 16 for Moses Lake. The two guards were both 3-for-6 on 3-point shots, giving their team bursts of energy and momentum at different times during the game.

The Chiefs finished the game shooting 42 percent from the field, 16 turnovers and 24 fouls.

Davis shot nearly 42 percent from the field and 65 percent from the line. The Pirates were one for 17 on 3-point shots.

The two teams meet again Jan. 21 in Yakima.

"We'll be a totally different team before we see them again," Mayo said.