Lions settle for eighth place at state

YAKIMA - Moses Lake Christian Academy regrouped from an opening-round upset loss to finish in eighth place at the 1B State Tournament this weekend. After dropping Wednesday's tournament opener 50-49 to Tri-Cities Prep, the Lions ran off a pair of lopsided wins to reaching the game for fifth and eighth places, where they lost in overtime to Entiat 67-64.

Against the Tigers, MLCA led 57-52 with 1:30 to play, only to have Entiat rally to tie the game with 47 seconds remaining as the Lions missed several free throws down the stretch.

"Not being able to finish the game was the most disappointing," said MLCA coach Lonnie Brown. "At the end of the game … you miss free throws, you're allowing the other team a chance."

Despite 22 points and 11 rebounds from Riggs Yarbro, and another 15 points from Phillip Friehe, MLCA couldn't keep pace with the Tigers in overtime

MLCA stayed a basket ahead of Entiat in the early part of overtime, but Entiat tied the game at 61 on a pair of free throws. From there, the Lions missed on a 3-point attempt, and on their ensuing possession Entiat turned an offensive rebound into their first lead of the extra period. The Tigers then stole the ball from MLCA as the Lions tried to work their half-court offense and scored a quick transition basket to take a 65-61 lead.

The Lions got to within 67-64 and had the ball with a chance to tie the game in the final 10 seconds, but couldn't push through the Entiat defense to get a clean shot at the basket.

While defense was the culprit in MLCA's loss to Tri-Cities Prep, Brown felt his team's work on that end of the floor was not the primary reason the Lions finished the tournament in defeat. MLCA led for much of the game, and up until the game's final 1:30 had done enough to earn the victory over the Tigers.

"I thought we did okay," said the Lions' coach of his team's defensive play. "There weren't any breakdowns on the defense. They (Entiat) hit a couple shots with guys in their face."

After MLCA missed the second of two free throws late in the game, Entiat rebounded, pushed the ball up the floor, and hit a 3-pointer in transition to cut MLCA's lead to two with 1:14 on the clock. A steal by the Tigers on MLCA's next possession led to a fast-break layup that tied the game at 57.

MLCA's full-court press, which the Lions use to create transition scoring opportunities and to wear down their opponents, did neither Saturday. In fact, Entiat at times broke past the Lions' press to get easy transition baskets of their own.

"We're gonna sometimes give up a little bit," said Brown of the downside of playing a full-court defense. "Hopefully, by the end of the game, we're wearing the other team out. It didn't happen today."

If defensive play by itself wasn't the Lions' problem Saturday, maybe it was the fact that they allowed their opponent to break the 50-point barrier for only the seventh time in 25 games. MLCA was 18-0 on the year when holding opponents under 50 points, but just 3-4 when allowing 50 or more in a game.

It was a shocking return to reality for a team that in the previous two games looked nearly unbeatable. After having their title aspirations erased by Tri-Cities Prep in Wednesday's opener, the Lions still felt they had much to play for in the consolation rounds.

"We still have something to prove," said Brown of his team's attitude after the loss to Tri-Cities Prep. "We're gonna show people what we're really about."

The Lions did just that in their next two games, getting a tournament-high 19 steals against Oakville and then setting tournament marks for scoring and rebounding against Taholah while holding the Chitwhins to just 21 percent shooting from the floor.

Against Taholah Friday, MLCA imposed their will, jumping out to a 10-0 lead and never looking back against a team clearly no match for the Lions.

The Lions led 43-13 at halftime, and after a momentary lapse that allowed Taholah to score the first six points of the second half, continued their domination through the game's final 16 minutes.

Yarbro led MLCA with 20 points, despite playing just 14 minutes against the Chitwhins. Sam Baker added 19 points and eight rebounds in what Brown called one of Baker's better games of the season.

Taylor McNamara also had a strong game for the Lions against Taholah, scoring 13 points and dishing out five assists with only one turnover.