Lady Lions battle

MLCA shines in second quarter

MOSES LAKE — The Lady Lions battled Kittitas for a 69-44 loss Tuesday.

"I'm happy with the second quarter," said head coach Scott Dietzen. "We played aggressively and came back."

Moses Lake went into halftime down nine points after ending the first quarter with a 15 point deficit.

Bethany Verhage opened the second quarter with a drive to the hoop for the Lady Lions before suffering a turnover and earning a steal to recover possession.

Kittitas sunk a three-ball to make it 21-5.

Verhage answered with another drive for Moses Lake.

The Lady Lions showed some spark at the defensive end of the court, forcing an error for Kittitas after playing tough defense to run down the shot clock.

Rebecca Hallberg connected with Verhage for another score to cut the lead to 11.

Then it was Lindsay Dietzen's turn to bolster her squad, stepping to the arc for a three and following it with a blocked shot on the defensive side of the ball.

With four minutes left in the half, Kittitas put Esther Timofeyev on the line to shoot two. Timofeyev missed them both but followed her second shot for the putback to make it 21-14.

Dietzen committed two quick fouls with two minutes left. Kittitas took advantage of the opportunity and made it 25-18.

Chelsea Allsbrook stepped back late in the half for a jump shot to make it a seven point game.

Verhage scored the last bucket of the half for Moses Lake on a drive to the hoop making it 27-22 before Kittitas scored four more before the buzzer.

"We didn't respond to their level of intensity in the second half," said Dietzen.

Verhage had 15 points and 10 rebounds. Dietzen had 10 points. Timofeyev had 11 rebounds.