Soap Lake Eagles fly past Mansfield as freshman Moats sinks 27 points

Boys basketball recaps

SOAP LAKE - Freshman Kyler Moats led all scorers with 27 points as the Soap Lake Eagles blew out the Mansfield Kernels 66-39 on Friday in a non-league outing.

Soap Lake (2-2) jumped out to a 37-20 halftime lead and cemented the win with an 18-8 third-quarter spurt. The Eagles passed and rebounded well, with Daniel Careas dishing out six of the Eagles' 20 assists and Ryan Rippet pulling down 13 of their 44 boards.

Marcos Delgado added 13 points for Soap Lake, Alex Overall scored nine and Careas added seven. Erick Harper led Mansfield with 15 points and Nate Bratten added 14.

The Eagles host the Wilbur-Creston Wildcats on Friday, a 7:30 p.m. start.

Saturday

Ephrata 70, Selah 48

SELAH - The Tigers stormed out of the gates and took a 39-16 lead into the locker room, tightening their hold on first place in the Central Washington Athletic Conference standings.

Ephrata (5-0 overall, 3-0 CWAC) was led by the 16 points of Ryan Lutz. Daniel Simon scored 14 and Patrick Simon added 11 for the Tigers. Selah's Kyle Washut scored a team-high 12 points and A.J. Keagle had nine points and nine rebounds.

The Tigers are home on Friday, hosting rival Quincy at 7:30 p.m.

Lind-Ritzville 60, Almira/Coulee-Hartline 40

LIND - A 26-point outburst in the second quarter sparked the Broncos to a Bi-County League victory over the visiting Warriors.

ACH led 15-5 after one period before Lind-Ritzville (5-1 overall, 3-1 Bi-County) went on its tear. The Broncos also dominated the third quarter, taking a 48-23 lead by outscoring ACH 17-1.

Lind-Ritzville guard Jamie Stevenson led all scorers with 14 points, Cory Whitmore scored 12 and Matt Saetre added 10. ACH (1-2, 1-2) got nine points from Kyle Tucker and seven apiece from Garrett Jess and Curtis Visker.

On Tuesday, the Warriors travel to league-leading Northwest Christian, while the Broncos head to Davenport. Both games are at 7:30 p.m.

Odessa 61, Valley Christian 36

SPOKANE - The Tigers had four players in double figures, building a 29-13 halftime lead en route to a Bi-County win over the Panthers.

Bryce Todd scored 14 points to pace the Tigers. Odessa's Aaron Bruya added 12, Luke Palmer had 12 and Travis King had 10. Odessa also finished the game with a big flourish, outscoring Valley Christian 26-15 in the fourth period.

Odessa (2-2 overall, 1-2 Bi-County) hosts Columbia-Hunters tonight in a 6 p.m. tip-off.

West Valley 73, Moses Lake 54

YAKIMA - West Valley's Evan Berndt burned the Chiefs for 21 points, leading the Rams to a non-league victory.

Michael Olaniyan led Moses Lake (3-3) with 18 points and eight rebounds. Josh Loera was the Chiefs' only other double-digit scorer with 11. West Valley's Matt Borton had 18 points, 14 rebounds and six assists.

Moses Lake dug itself a huge hole in the first half, falling behind 41-19. The Chiefs went on a 21-12 run in the third period, but it wasn't enough.

The Chiefs host the Wenatchee Panthers on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.

Ellensburg 53, Othello 46

ELLENSBURG - The Huskies dropped to 0-3 in CWAC play despite 12 points from Jakob Scott.

Othello began well, opening up a 13-8 lead going to the second quarter, but a 13-3 Ellensburg run put it ahead to stay. Ben Luce led the Bulldogs with 12 points and Garrett Harris added 10.

Othello tries to rebound on Thursday when it hosts the Selah Vikings in a CWAC contest at 7:30 p.m.

Toppenish 49, Quincy 38

QUINCY - The visiting Wildcats took advantage at the free-throw line in the fourth quarter, beating the Jackrabbits for their first CWAC win.

Quincy (2-2 overall, 1-2 CWAC) had a 20-16 lead at halftime before being outscored 13-3 in the third and 20-15 in the fourth. Eric Martin had nine points and 10 rebounds for the Jacks, while a quartet of players - Adam Richardson, Jesse Gonzales, Jay Cedergreen and Chase Webley - scored six apiece.

Ramon Ramirez scored 14 points to lead Toppenish, and Chendo Aguilar had six points, five rebounds and three assists.

Quincy heads to Ephrata for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off on Friday with the rival Tigers.

Granger 52, Royal 28

GRANGER - The Knights struggled all night on offense and were held to single digits in three of four quarters, losing their next-to-last, non-conference tune-up.

The Spartans built a 28-16 halftime margin and got 13 points from Mychal Lopez for the win. Michael Hebdon had eight points for Royal.

The Knights will host the Kittitas Coyotes on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. before opening South Central Athletic Conference East Division play on Thursday at Connell.

Kittitas 68, Warden 60 (2 OT)

WARDEN - The visiting Coyotes took advantage of Ben Bisnett's absence to go on an 8-0 surge in the second overtime.

Bisnett, Warden's star senior who finished with 20 points, fouled out late in the game. The Cougars rallied from an early 24-17 deficit and again from a 43-40 hole after three quarters.

Kevin Whitaker chipped in 11 points for Warden and Carlos Galindo added eight points and four steals. Kittitas was paced by Nick Mifflin's 19 points, while Bryce Gibb added 17 points and Kevin Ackerlund had 16.

The Cougars begin SCAC East play on Tuesday at Columbia-Burbank, a 7:30 p.m. start.

Friday

Ephrata 56, Ellensburg 44

EPHRATA - In a key CWAC contest at Marty O'Brien Court, the Tigers tightened their grip on the conference lead by taking a 34-21 lead into halftime and holding on from there.

Ephrata's leading scorer, Daniel Simon, was in foul trouble most of the evening and finished with just four points. But the Tigers got 17 points and four 3-pointer from Patrick Simon and solid contributions from their bench. Derrick Webb had seven points and Ross Buchert added six.

Moses Lake 63, Hanford 51

MOSES LAKE - The Chiefs harried the Falcons into 31 turnovers and went on a 21-10 run in the fourth quarter to put things on ice.

Michael Olaniyan had a huge game for Moses Lake with 25 points, nine rebounds and four steals. Josh Loera (13 points, four steals) and Scott Moberg (11) also finished in double figures for the Chiefs. Jarred Walker had four steals and Ryan Coulston had four assists.

Boris Vlaco had 21 points and 12 rebounds for the Falcons.

Royal 60, Highland 49

ROYAL CITY - The Knights earned their first victory of the year with a breakout offensive effort in the second half, knocking off the Scots in a non-league contest.

Blair Collins and Michael Hebdon scored 15 points each for Royal, which trailed 20-17 at haltime before scoring 21 in the third period and 22 in the fourth. Hebdon added six steals and six rebounds. Royal also outscored Highland by 13 at the free-throw line.

Lind-Ritzville 58, Wilbur-Creston 49

CRESTON - The Broncos trailed by a point at halftime, but took control with a 16-8 run in the third period to beat the Wildcats in a Bi-County League contest.

Matt Saetre led all scorers with 20 points, Jamie Stevenson scored 15 and Cory Whitmore added eight for Lind-Ritzville.

Almira/Coulee-Hartline 48, Liberty 46

HARTLINE - The Warriors outscored the Lancers 14-9 in the fourth quarter, erasing a deficit for their first victory of the season.

ACH trailed 24-22 at halftime and 37-34 after three quarters, but got 11 points from Kent Sieg, 10 from Kyle Tucker and nine from Garrett Jess to pull it out.

Grandview 55, Othello 48

OTHELLO - The Huskies had control entering the fourth quarter, but the Greyhounds closed the game on a 19-8 run for the CWAC victory.

Grandview's C.J. Lopez scored a game-high 19 points. Othello's Jakob Scott had eight points and 13 rebounds, Gabe Cantu had seven points and nine rebounds, and Judah Gowan scored eight points.

Othello led 21-20 at halftime and 40-36 after three quarters.

Reardan 59, Odessa 43

ODESSA - After a tight first half, the visiting Indians tore through the Tigers in the third period, outscoring them 26-6 for a Bi-County League victory.

Odessa trailed by just three at halftime, 25-22, before the third-quarter collapse. Travis Todd scored 13 points to lead Odessa, with Bryce Todd and Luke Palmer contributing 11 apiece.