Lions lose in first round

YAKIMA — The Lions of Moses Lake Christian Academy had their hands full with Tri-Cities Prep Wednesday.

The Jaguars were handed a 25-point loss by MLCA during the regular season and appeared to have learned their lesson, coming out early in the game with a 6-0 scoring drive to make the Lions play catch-up.

"We just didn't play in the first half and we didn't shoot well the whole game," said MLCA head coach Lonnie Brown.

A 3-ball from the corner by Taylor McNamara was the first basket of the game for the Lions and came after nearly four minutes of play. After the first bucket, the next few should have come easy for the normally prolific team, but good shots continued to elude Moses Lake.

Daniel Timofeyev tied the game at six after earning and converting an and-1 with less than three minutes remaining in the period. His effort was followed by another 3-pointer, this one by Jesse Bassett. It was the final field goal of the quarter for the Lions.

The brief lead Moses Lake enjoyed was erased by the Jaguars who ended the period with an 8-0 scoring run to make it 14-9 at the break.

Riggs Yarbro opened the second quarter with a layup to make it a 3-point game but the Lions then allowed another scoring run by TC Prep who scored another eight unanswered points.

Yarbro had back-to-back involvement in the Lions' next four points. First going 2-for-2 at the line after drawing a foul under the basket and then dishing to teammate Sam Walker for a layup.

Moses Lake continued to push upcourt despite their offensive woes. Adrian Moffett slimmed down a widening gap between the Lions and the Jaguars with a 3-ball near the three-minute mark to make it 28-20. Moffett followed up the 3-pointer with an off-the-glass jumpshot to cut the TC Prep lead to six.

The Lions pressed to the basket to end the half, with Yarbro sinking a turnaround jumper, Bassett going 2-for-2 from the line and Moffett hitting a drive to the bucket.

Moses Lake went into the locker room with a 6-point deficit.

The Lions continued the close the gap in the second half, with Yarbro and Walker putting up layups in the early minutes of the third quarter. Then Phillip Friehe was able to tip in a putback and had his bucket followed by another layup from Yarbro.

With five minutes remaining in the quarter Yarbro sank a putback of his own shot to tie the game and gave his team their first lead since the first quarter two minutes later with another putback.

Both teams continued to battle for supremecy with the Lions coming out the victor, at least at the end of the third period, when Moffett went 2-for-2 to give Moses Lake a 43-41 lead.

Moffett hit Moses Lake's first hoop of the fourth quarter, sinking a 3-pointer to give the Lions a lead and saw the lead extended by a 1-for-2 stint at the line by Friehe.

TC Prep charged back late and were down by just one with under two minutes to play.

The Lions were able to burn nearly a minute off the clock before the Jaguars were forced to foul, sending Bassett to the line for a 1-and-1. Bassett was not able to convert for the Lions.

With 11 seconds left, the Jaguars hit a bucket and drew a foul but were unable to convert the 3-point play.

After crossing halfcourt, down by one, Moses Lake called a timeout with five seconds remaining and were stopped in their tracks when TC Prep called a timeout three seconds later.

Moses Lake was set to shoot, working from a set inbounds play but the shot didn't fall as time expired. The Lions fell 50-49.

Yarbro led the team in scoring with 17 points and 6 boards. Moffett added 12 points to the Lions' effort. Friehe led the team in rebounding, grabbing 7 boards.