MLCA holds Bridgeport for victory

MOSES LAKE — Jessica Jachetta hit the winning shot with 50 seconds left as the Lady Lions held on for a 49-46 win over the Bridgeport Fillies in first day action at the MLCA Christmas Tournament.

Jachetta led the Lady Lions with 16 points, all in the second half. Before Jachetta's shot gave MLCA the lead for good, the teams battled for control of the game in the final minutes. With MLCA trailing 43-44, Esther Timofeyev scored at the 1:20 mark to give the Lady Lions the lead. Bridgeport regained the lead on their next possession to move the score to 46-45.

Then, with 50 seconds left, Jachetta scored to put the Lady Lions ahead 46-45. Bridgeport was unable to score on their next possession. Rebecca Hallberg was fouled when MLCA regained possession. With 19 seconds remaining, Hallberg hit two free throws to push the lead to three and give the Lady Lions their final margin of victory.

"It was a breakout night for Jessica Jachetta," said Lady Lions head coach Scott Dietzen. "She shot real well."

Dietzen liked his team's aggressiveness and offensive rebounding.

"Esther Timofeyev made a lot of second chance shots," Dietzen said. "It was a great game for a freshman."

Timofeyev led the team with 18 rebounds and scored 12 points on the night.

Lindsay Dietzen held Bridgeport's leading scorer to 7 points.

"She only scored 7 points today. Last year I think she scored 27 points on us," Dietzen said.

After a tightly contested first quarter left the score at 13-13, Bridgeport edged ahead by three points early in the second. With 5:08 left in the quarter, Heidi Sandberg scored to close the score to 15-16. In the final four minutes, Bridgeport used an 11-2 scoring run to put MLCA down 17-27 going into halftime.

During halftime, coach Dietzen encouraged his players to be more aggressive on the offensive end of the floor.

"I challenged them to take shots when they get the open look," said Dietzen. "As long as they are giving us the open lane, take it."

The strategy worked as the Lady Lions rallied in the third quarter to erase Bridgeport's 10-point lead. Jachetta hit several key shots during the quarter, including a basket with 3:15 remaining to cut Bridgeport's lead to four. After Bridgeport hit a 3-point shot to extend the lead to seven, MLCA put together a series outplaying Bridgeport down low.

Timofeyev was fouled while shooting and went to the free-throw line for two shots. She made the first shot and missed the second. After a scramble below the basket, Timofeyev gained control of the ball, scored, and was fouled during the shot. She sank the free throw to move the score to 31-34 in favor of Bridgeport.

The Lady Lions scored twice more in the final two minutes, tying the game at 35 and setting up the exciting finish.

Sandberg scored 11 points and grabbed nine rebounds in the contest. Hallberg had five assists for the Lady Lions.