Lady Lions outpace ACH

MLCA 49, ACH 29

MOSES LAKE — Moses Lake Christian Academy hosted the Lady Warriors of ACH in an early season match-up Tuesday.

In the first minutes of the game both teams struggled to get to the hoop but Moses Lake's Bethany Verhage ended the draught, scoring a jumper to give the Lady Lions an early lead. The bucket sparked an 8-1 scoring drive for Moses Lake.

Breanna Martin earned the first field goal of the night for the Lady Warrirors with a layup.

Moses Lake continued to dominate the court with Esther Timofeyev following her own shot to earn a putback down low and extend the Lady Lions' lead to 12-3.

Andrea Edwards had a steal for ACH but could not hold on to the ball, having it stripped by Heidi Sandberg. Sandberg's defensive effort earned MLCA another bucket when Verhage drove the lane to give the Lady Lions an 11-point lead.

Megan Osborne answered for the Lady Warriors with a layup of her own and sparked a small rally for ACH as Edwards drew a foul from Sandberg. Edwards got the bucket and made her free throw to cut the Moses Lake lead to six.

"We've got a lot of work ahead of us," said ACH head coach Ben Addink. "Tonight was a good gauge to see where we're at."

Verhage answered the call again for the Lady Lions, draining a long jump shot to push the Moses Lake lead to eight to end the first quarter.

ACH began the second quarter with a steal by Edwards who was able to make it to the hole and draw a foul from Chelsea Allsbrook. Edwards completed the 3-point opportunity and whittled the Moses Lake lead down to five. Sarah Gloyn cut the lead again for ACH with a bucket — it was the last field goal of the half for the Lady Warriors.

Moses Lake was able to continue pushing the ball up the floor on the tough play of Verhage and Timofeyev and enjoyed a comfortable 30-14 lead at the half.

Both teams came out of the locker room shooting with Edwards of ACH and Allsbrook of MLCA trading buckets to begin the third quarter.

The first three of the night came from Lindsay Dietzen of Moses Lake and gave the Lady Lions a 35-16 lead.

Each team struggled finding the hole in the third period, with Moses Lake earning only nine points and ACH scoring just six in comparison to the nine turnovers and eight fouls the teams earned combined.

Christina Firouzi opened the fourth quarter with a 3-ball for Moses Lake to give the Lady Lions a 22-point lead.

The Lady Warriors continued to battle, with Edwards working hard and drawing a foul from Jessica Jachetta. Edwards was able to convert just one of her free throws but made up for it a few plays later when she drew another foul, this one on Verhage. Edwards went 2-for-2 on the 1-and-1 opportunity.

"There were areas where we were a step slow and areas where I hadn't prepared the team well enough," said Addink. "I told the girls this game was on me. We got the first game jitters out and we'll worry about Thursday tomorrow."

Verhage followed up her foul with a long jumper to push the lead back to 21.

The final field goal of the night came off the hands on Alyssa Bodeau who hit a jump shot for the Lady Warriors.

Edwards led the Lady Warriors with 14 points and Bodeau added eight points to the ACH effort.

Timofeyev led Moses Lake with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Verhage earned 14 points for the Lady Lions. Dietzen rounded out the Moses Lake stats with seven points.