Chiefs sustain first loss of year

AUBURN - The Moses Lake Chiefs girls basketball team lost its first game of the season on Thursday, falling to Oregon powerhouse Sheldon 50-47 in the Auburn-Riverside High School holiday tournament.

Sheldon, the fifth-ranked 6A team in Oregon and based in Eugene, got the win by taking away one of Moses Lake's strengths - a quick start. The Fighting Irish outscored the Chiefs 16-9 in the first quarter and, after Moses Lake rallied to take a 23-21 lead to halftime, they went on a 19-11 run in the third period.

"All in all we played a pretty solid game," Chiefs head coach Matt Strophy said. "They just got it done in the first and the third quarter against us."

Moses Lake, second in the last 4A state rankings, fell to 6-1 overall.

Carly Noyes scored 22 points for the Chiefs, with Kelly Sutherland adding 11 and Jordan Loera chipping in 10.

The Chiefs don't have much time to worry about the defeat as they continue the tournament today against Lake Stevens at 3:45 p.m. The Vikings are a Washington 4A state tournament qualifier from a year ago.

"We'll regroup and get them ready to go tomorrow," Strophy said.