Lady Vikings' struggles continue against Wenatchee

Big Bend falls to Lady Knights for third time this season

MOSES LAKE — If you ask Big Bend head coach Craig Randall for one reason why the Lady Vikings fell 67-43 to Wenatchee Valley on Saturday, he'll give you one answer - officiating.

Big Bend was called for 25 personal fouls in Saturday's loss that put the Lady Knights at the free-throw line 35 times, making 24 of their shots. Meanwhile, Wenatchee Valley was called for 17 fouls that resulted in 8 of 12 shooting from behind the free-throw line for the Lady Vikings.

"Those girls pushed our girls just as many times and it wasn't called and you can put that in the paper," Randall said. "Our girls are down there and they are calling touchy things and I think it is crap."

It was the second straight home game where Randall disagreed with the officiating, but was not called for a technical foul against the Lady Knights.

"I felt as a coach I needed to keep my composure enough not to get a technical," Randall said. "We needed to keep control in the game."

Another reason for the loss would be shooting. Big Bend shot 32 percent from the field for the game and 25 percent in the second half and Kari Darnell was held scoreless from the field, scoring her two points from the free-throw line.

"Kari's shots weren't falling and she is normally a good shooter," Randall said, adding, "Sheena only had two shots in the first half and we were trying to get her the ball more."

Henderson finished the game with 10 points on 5 of 10 shooting in the game.

Wenatchee Valley never gave Big Bend a chance to get into the game, building a 21-11 lead with 10:05 left in the first half. But the last 10 minutes of the first half sparked the Lady Vikings, who outscored the Lady Knights 14-10.

Jenna Ball hit a 3-pointer from the corner with 7:46 left in the first half to cut the lead to 21 16 and Kristin Brandt hit a 3-pointer before the end of the half, trailing Wenatchee Valley 37-25.

In the second half, Wenatchee Valley utilized a slow start from the Lady Vikings to build a 50-28 lead capped off by a Shayne Freeman 3-pointer, part of a 16-4 run.

Trailing 62-36 with less than five minutes remaining in the game, Big Bend came back to life, scoring seven unanswered points to finish the game with a 67-43 loss.

Big Bend is all but eliminated from the playoffs, needing to potentially win out to clinch a spot in the NWAACC tournament. At 2-6 in the Eastern Region, that might be a long shot to win the last six games of the season.

"Now it is a tough road to hoe and we have been taking it one game at a time and that is all we can do," Randall said.