Lady Eagles survive Lady Lions

by Tony Vehrs<br>Herald Staff Writer
| December 11, 2006 8:00 PM

Soap Lake 44, MLCA 42

SOAP LAKE — Trailing by one early in the fourth quarter, Soap Lake put together a 7-0 scoring run to take control of the game as they defeated Moses Lake Christian Academy 44-42 Friday.

Michelle Marthini's inside basket with 7:02 remaining gave the Lady Eagles a 1-point lead, and a series of free throws allowed Soap Lake to extend their lead as time wound down in the fourth quarter.

Soap Lake led 44-38 with two minutes to play, and managed to hold on despite a valiant comeback attempt by the Lady Lions.

MLCA's Bethany Verhage scored with 1:20 on the clock to cut the lead to four, and after the Lady Lions won possession on a held ball with seconds left in the game, they had a chance to close to within two.

Verhage scored with nine seconds left in the game to make it 44-42, and the Lady Lions immediately fouled Soap Lake to stop the clock.

The Lady Eagles missed both free-throw attempts, the second shot bouncing off the rim and over the backboard, stopping the clock and giving MLCA a chance to in-bound the ball with five seconds to play.

The Lady Lions got the ball to Verhage, who drove down the court and drained a 10-foot jumper that appeared to tie the game. However, referees indicated that the shot came after the buzzer, thus the basket was no good and the Lady Eagles escaped with a 2-point victory,

"We knew we could get down there and get a good look," said Moses Lake Christian Academy coach Scott Dietzen of the game's final play. "That was the one we wanted, and she was the person we wanted taking it."

While MLCA's offense nearly came through at the end of the game, it was the defenses that dominated in Friday's contest.

MLCA had a difficult time getting the ball down to their post players, as the Lady Eagles focused on shutting down the Lady Lions' inside game.

"We were just forcing the ball inside," said Dietzen. "Every time we got the ball inside, they had two people there."

Both Moses Lake Christian Academy and Soap Lake used a full-court press to disrupt the flow of game and create a multitude of turnovers. Each team took advantage of steals to score fast-break baskets.

Trailing 16-11 in the second quarter, Soap Lake went on an 8-2 run in which Ariel Wernex had a steal that she converted into an easy hoop. A late basket by the Lady Lions' Heidi Sandberg put MLCA on top 20-19 at the half.

In the third quarter, MLCA erased a 31-24 Soap Lake lead with an 8-0 run of their own. Midway through the run, Verhage stole the ball from the Lady Eagles and passed ahead to Chelsea Allsbrook for an easy layup. Verhage then gave the Lady Lions a 32-31 lead on a jumper from the top of the key with 1:23 remaining in the quarter.