Chiefs shake off early doldrums for 11th straight victory
Prep sports recaps
YAKIMA - After a relatively competitive first scratch series game, the Moses Lake Chiefs showed the Eisenhower Cadets who the best team is in the Central Washington League bowling standings.
Moses Lake gutted out an 802-729 win in the first game, a fairly low score for the 11-0 Chiefs. But they dominated the rest of the match and increased their league lead to two games over the Cadets (9-2).
"Both teams came out really tight and the conditions were challenging," Chiefs head coach Billy Brice said. "During this first game it was just a matter of spares. My girls were sparing everything."
Actually, not everything. Sophomore Amanda Strezlczyk had three consecutive strikes - what Brice terms a "three-bagger" - during the middle of the game, and rolled a crucial team-high 189.
Virginia Valdez was at 163, Shanice Brice and Sandy Smith were at 161, and Michelle Reynolds ended at 128.
Picking up the win despite a subpar start seemed to jumpstart the Chiefs, Brice noted.
"The next game the spares turned into strikes for us," he said.
Moses Lake went on to sweep the scratch series with a 907-741 triumph. Smith led the way at 199, followed by Valdez at 192, Brice at 181, Reynolds at 174 and Strezlczyk at 161.
"I believe, with the exception of maybe Amanda, everybody had a three-bagger in there," the coach said, "and it just shook Eisenhower up so bad that they kind of collapsed."
With a 239-pin lead, the Chiefs were able to bring some varsity newcomers into the lineup. They cemented the win in the Baker series, winning the first set 189-174 before dropping the last one 189-177.
"All in all the girls bowled excellent today as a team," Brice said. "Somebody was always doing something positive. They really stayed up, especially after that first game when shots were pretty tough."
Moses Lake makes up a missed match with Davis on Monday at Lake Bowl, then hosts Ellensburg on Tuesday. Both matches begin at 3:30 p.m.
Wrestling
Ellensburg 47, Ephrata 17
ELLENSBURG - The Tigers had a good shot at pulling off the road win until the last five matches, which the Bulldogs swept thanks to four pins and a forfeit.
"We were right in the mix with them. We fought hard," Ephrata head coach P.J. Anderson said.
"The kids went out and competed extremely well. That mental toughness piece is something we've been working on the last week or so. We were beat by a good team tonight."
The Central Washington Athletic Conference opponents split the first eight matches of the night, and Ephrata's Ryan Cross evened the score at 17-17 with a 7-1 victory at 152 pounds. But that was the last team point of the Tigers' night.
Ellensburg started its late run with a pin of Ephrata's Robert Motzkus at 160 pounds. Brady Beard (171), Deion Ducksworth (215) and Anthony Johnson (285) also lost by pins, and Ephrata forfeited the 189-pound match.
Anderson credited Brenton Beard and Quinton Hendrickson for good wins over particularly tough opponents. Beard won his 119-pound bout by a 6-2 score, while Hendrickson pulled out a 6-3 decision at 145 pounds.
Ellensburg won the first match as Ephrata's Seth Kulakoski (103 pounds) dropped a narrow 7-6 decision. Anthony Bush put Ephrata out front 4-3 with an 11-3 major decision at 112.
Brandon Butcher (125) lost 13-6 and Mitchell Friend (130) lost by pin as the Bulldogs took a 13-7 advantage. Kurt Nygard (135) closed the gap once more with an 8-0 major decision, and Robert Foster lost his 140-pound matchup 12-3.
Ephrata travels to Yakima for the annual SunDome Tournament on Saturday at 10 a.m. Their next CWAC match comes next Thursday with a double dual at Selah against the host Vikings and Othello.
"We're getting better faster," Anderson said. "Our goals right now are within our practice room, not so much at winning a tournament."