Chiefs drop two games over the weekend

YAKIMA — The Moses Lake Chiefs boys basketball team lost  a pair of non-conference contests this weekend to fall to 1-4 this season.

The Chiefs fell 79-62 to Eisenhower Friday night on the road.

Moses Lake head coach Rolland Hansen said despite the loss, he was proud of the way his boys played against a tough Eisenhower team.

“(Eisenhower is) a very good team,” he said, “We played pretty well.”

Moses Lake senior guard Josh Loera led the Chiefs in scoring Friday night with 35 points,  pulling within 23 points of 1,000 for his career at Moses Lake High School. Loera also led the Chiefs with nine assists.

While Moses Lake fell to Eisenhower, Hansen said his team is improving this season.

“We have some guys who are still getting their feet wet,” he said. “Overall, not a bad team effort.”

Justin Walker scored in double-digits Friday night with 10 points and Isaac Bergeson provided nine points in the loss.

Hermiston 72, Moses Lake 60

MOSES LAKE — Moses Lake senior guard Josh Loera moved within seven points of 1,000 for his Chiefs career, but the Moses Lake boys basketball team couldn’t fend off visiting Hermiston Saturday night.

Loera finished with 16 points, five steals, five assists and five rebounds.

While Loera had an impressive performance, Moses Lake head coach Rolland Hansen said Loera struggled from the field.

“Josh had a real tough shooting night,” Hansen said. “(His shots) just weren’t falling.

The Chiefs played to a 43-43 tie at the end of three quarters Saturday night and Hansen said he was impressed with how well his team responded against Hermiston.

“One thing that has been hampering us is our rebounds,” Hansen said. “We were able to stay with Hermiston (in rebounding).”

Moses Lake continued to battle throughout the fourth quarter before Hermiston began to press the Chiefs, Hansen said.

“(We had) three turnovers in a row,” Hansen said of his team’s response to Hermiston’s press. “It’s tough to survive that way.”

Despite the loss, Hansen said his team worked the ball to its post players.

“We are looking inside more,” he said. “We finally saw the Isaac (Bergeson) we’ve been looking for.”

Bergeson added 15 points and five rebounds.

Although the Chiefs fell at home, Hansen said his team in improving.

“We are going to improve quite a bit this season,” he said.