Lions attack Easton

MOSES LAKE — The Lions used relentless pressure from their guards on defense and a dominant inside attack to defeat Easton 94-35 Saturday.

Moses Lake Christian Academy, already leading 8-0 midway through the first quarter, in one play sent Easton a message that scoring from inside would not come easy.

On the play, the Easton guard passed the ball down into the post, where the MLCA defense then converged. When Easton's forward tried to go up with a shot, the Lions' Sam Baker was there to reject the effort. Easton then recovered the ball and went immediately back toward the basket, where Riggs Yarbro stepped in and blocked the put back attempt.

While it was only the first quarter, it would be one of the last times Easton tried to go inside on MLCA. For much of the game, the defensive play by the MLCA guards prevented Easton from making clean passes inside. When the Jaguars did get the ball down low, Baker, Yarbro and several other Lions' big men were there to put a wall around the hoop.

"We pride ourselves on being a good, quality defensive program," said MLCA head coach Lonnie Brown, whose team has allowed opponents to break the 50-point barrier only twice this season.

As much as the Lions turned in a team effort on defense, they may have been even more balanced on the offensive end of the floor. MLCA had seven players score in double figures, led by Josiah Meiners' 18-point effort.

Adrian Moffett, Taylor McNamara, Travis Hudson, Daniel Timofeyev, Yarbro and Baker also broke double figures on the night. Additionally, the MLCA bench, led by Meiners and Moffett, matched the 35 points put up by the entire Easton squad.

It is the ability to go deep into their bench that has helped the Lions get out to a 12-1 start on the season, including a 4-0 record in league play.

"That's a big key for us," said Brown of his team's depth. "We can keep throwing bodies at people and wear some teams down that are only six or seven deep."

That depth and balance also was evident on the boards, where the Lions held a tremendous 62-26 advantage over Easton.

While no Lions' player reached double-digits in rebounds, seven MLCA players, many of them guards, had at least six rebounds.

"We're really working hard on guards crashing the boards," noted Brown. "Everybody's got to do it…it's team rebounding."

Even in what was a dominant performance, Brown saw areas his team needs to improve on before the end of the season.

"When we do get the ball inside we need to finish," said the Lions' coach.

MLCA had 28 offensive rebounds in the game, many of those coming off missed shots in the paint.