Buzzer-beater sinks Chiefs

Moses Lake comeback stopped short

MOSES LAKE — With the Chiefs down 50-48 and less than 30 seconds on the clock, Quinn Baker scored from down low to tie the game at 50, but Pasco's Shayne Kelly hit a jumper with 1.7 seconds left on the clock to lift the Bulldogs to a 52-50 win over Moses Lake Tuesday night.

Following Baker's shot, the last of his game-high 18 points, Pasco brought the ball down the floor with plenty of time to run a play. The Bulldogs brought Kelly off a screen from the left side of the hoop, where the Pasco senior slipped between Moses Lake defenders and put up his game-winning shot.

"We just didn't get through it (the screen) again, and we got over late with our help," said Moses Lake coach Brant Mayo of the game's final play. "He's a clutch athlete, and they make plays like that. That's what he did — make a great play."

In many ways, the final play summed up what Mayo felt was the Chiefs' problem all night, simply being outworked by the Bulldogs.

"It seems like we had a lack of energy for whatever reason tonight," said Mayo. "We got outplayed, out-coached and out-hustled. Pasco deserved to win."

After Josh Loera opened the fourth quarter with a jumper to extend the Chiefs' lead to 44-35, the Bulldogs went on an 11-2 run to tie the game at 46 with 3:01 to play.

The Chiefs responded when Cody Meeks grabbed a loose ball and put a shot up from his knees that went in to put Moses Lake up by two. Pasco went down and quickly scored to tie the game at 48, and after Moses Lake failed to convert on their next possession, the Bulldogs got a basket from Kelly to retake the lead.

Other than the first four minutes of the third quarter, during which the Chiefs outscored Pasco 12-6 to take a 37-29 lead, Moses Lake struggled offensively throughout the game. The Chiefs shot just 39 percent in the first half, and other than their early third-quarter run, did not fare much better from the field in the second half. Moses Lake scored just 8 points in the fourth quarter, and none of the points came with ease.

While the Chiefs were ineffective offensively down the stretch, Mayo pointed to his team's defensive play when talking about what went wrong Tuesday night.

"When we're playing well on offense, it energizes us," said Mayo. "When we're not, we tend to pout a little on defense. I think you saw a little of that tonight.

"We need to make sure we defend no matter what," Mayo added. "We've been able to get stops at the end of games this year … tonight we just didn't."

The game's final eight minutes were a stark contrast to the rest of the contest, during which Moses Lake managed to piece together a 25-23 halftime lead despite not being at the top of their game.

Chiefs fell behind early before a pair of baskets from Baker in the final minute of the first quarter gave the home team a 13-12 lead. Moses Lake opened the second quarter with an unexpected 3-pointer from BJ Guerra. Then, after a Pasco score, the Chiefs ran off 6 straight points to take a 22-14 lead. Pasco rallied to tie the game at 23 just before halftime but Meeks grabbed an offensive rebound off of a missed free throw and downed a short jumper to send the Chiefs to the locker room with the lead.

Moses Lake's third-quarter run started and ended with hoops from Loera, who finished the night with 13 points for the Chiefs. Meeks had 10 points and a game-high 13 rebounds, while Guerra added 7 points for Moses Lake.