Third-quarter outburst sends Lions to tournament title

MOSES LAKE - Lonny Brown knew Friday night's third quarter was good, but he didn't know how good.

Brown's Moses Lake Christian Lions were outstanding in the final four minutes of the third period, scoring 18 unanswered points to key a 61-42 triumph over the Tri-Cities Prep Jaguars and, in the process, cement the championship trophy at their holiday tournament.

"Is that what it was? Wow," Brown said when told about the 18-0 run. "That was awesome. They just turned it up on the defensive end and made some good decisions at the offensive end."

The Jaguars trailed 31-26 midway through the period when freshman Isaac Murrell got the charge started with a 3-pointer from the right corner. The Lions dominated in transition over the next few minutes, led by several driving finishes from junior guard Adrian Moffet, and led 49-26 going to the fourth period.

Moffet scored a game-high 24 points and added five rebounds, four blocked shots and four steals. It was a performance Moses Lake Christian fans have come to expect from their top scorer, but it was the efforts of two youngsters - Murrell and Stefan McNamara - that might've been just as impressive.

Murrell, who has recovered from a broken collarbone sustained during soccer season, scored nine points and hit all six of his free-throw attempts.

"He missed the first four games, I think, with his collarbone injury," Brown said. "He's been a very pleasant surprise. He goes out there, he plays with confidence, and that's all I can ask."

McNamara, a sophomore, finished with six points, five rebounds and two steals.

"I thought Isaac Murrell and Stefan McNamara gave us huge minutes tonight," Brown said. "Having those two kids come in and do the job they did, that's going to help us down the road."

The meeting between the Jaguars and Lions was a grudge match of sorts. Tri-Cities Prep knocked Moses Lake Christian out of title contention with a 50-49 victory last March in the first round of the state tournament. But the Lions only have two players who were a part of that game.

"I think it was probably in the back of their minds but, no, I don't think it was any added motivation," Brown explained. "We just knew we had to come out and try to play well against a good ball club."

Moses Lake Christian did that from the opening tip, jumping out to a 10-3 lead behind Moffett and senior Jesse Bassett. The Lions were patient against Prep's tenacious zone defense, finding open men with good cross-court passes. Bassett, who had 18 points, nine rebounds, five assists and two steals, extended his team's lead to 28-22 at the half with a late putback.

Tri-Cities Prep narrowed its deficit to 53-38 with 4 minutes to go on Ryan Mercado's 3-pointer, but it wasn't nearly enough to climb out of the huge hole. Sergio Lopez led the Jaguars with 13 points and Andrew LeBrun added 11.

Moses Lake Christian's huge third-quarter run helped them shoot 67 percent in the second half and 57 percent for the game. The Lions scored 18 points off 16 Jaguars turnovers.

"We have to pick our spots when we can run," Brown said. "I thought, against this team, we had a chance to run a little bit. We picked our spots and we did a good job getting it done."

The Lions head into North Central League play with a 7-2 record. They'll open league at Mansfield this Friday at 7:30 p.m. Taking home the tournament's championship trophy is a great confidence-builder going in.

"I think just getting ourselves ready for league play is what we're striving to do," Brown said. "Season one is done. Everybody's 0-0 and we start season two now."