Lions cruise to victory over Bridgeport
MOSES LAKE — Moses Lake Christian Academy used a stifling defense and a great shooting night to defeat Bridgeport 81-39 in the opening round of the MLCA Christmas Tournament.
The Lions shot 57 percent from the field, including 50 percent from 3-point range. Much of the shooting success can be attributed to players having open shots throughout the night.
"We had good ball movement," said head coach Lonnie Brown.
The Lions jumped out to a 13-3 lead in the opening minutes of the first quarter as Bridgeport was unable to handle the pressure of the Lions' full-court press. David Timofeyev and Phillip Friehe each scored early baskets off Bridgeport turnovers.
"We wanted to set the tone early," Brown said. "We take pride in playing pressure defense for 32 minutes. It was a good team effort defensively."
After a quick time out, Bridgeport collected themselves and handled the Lions' defense better. The teams traded baskets for several minutes to push the score to 19-9.
With 1:20 to play in the first quarter, Taylor McNamara scored to stretch the MLCA lead to 21-9. Friehe followed with a 3-point basket. With two seconds remaining in the quarter, Bridgeport answered with a 3-pointer of their own to make the score 24-12 at the end of the first quarter.
The Lions were able to capitalize on their size advantage down low, as 6-foot-5 Riggs Yarbro and 6-foot-3 Sam Walker both turned in dominating performances.
Yarbro led the team with 18 points and 13 rebounds, despite playing limited minutes in the fourth quarter. Walker came off the bench for MLCA to contribute 10 points and 11 rebounds.
"Getting a double-double from both those big guys was huge," Brown said.
MLCA opened the second quarter with a 3-point basket from Casey Hudson. Bridgeport then scored five straight points to cut the lead to 27-17. The Lions responded with eight unanswered points, including a bucket from Josh Munoz.
MLCA continued to build its lead in the second quarter, with McNamara hitting a shot with 20 seconds remaining in the half to push the score to 46-23. Bridgeport closed the quarter with a basket to make the score 46-25 at halftime.
MLCA stepped up the defensive pressure in the second half, limiting Bridgeport to four points in the third quarter.
"We played better half-court defense in the second half," Brown said. "We need to work on some little things in our half-court man defense. We're getting better, but we need to improve on denying the opponent's post men the ball."
The Lions improved half-court defense held Bridgeport to 19 percent shooting in the second half. After giving up 25 points in the first half, the MLCA defense allowed only 14 points over the final two quarters.
The second half got off to a slow start, with neither team scoring much in the early going. With 1:50 to go in the quarter, the Lions rediscovered their scoring touch and put together a 10-2 run to make the score 65-29 at the end of the third.
In the fourth quarter, Sam Walker scored a pair of early baskets to increase the Lions' lead to 69-29.
Friehe scored 16 points shooting 7-of-8. McNamara added 13 points and Timofeyev had seven assists on the night.