Moses Lake girls take district title
Prep basketball recaps
MOSES LAKE - They're three wins away from making even more history.
The Moses Lake Chiefs resoundingly threw out years of frustration over the weekend, winning their first-ever district title on Saturday by beating the Walla Walla Blue Devils 56-50.
Moses Lake (18-4 overall) begins regional tournament play at Chief Gym on Tuesday, playing host to the Central Valley Bears at 6 p.m. The Bears are the Greater Spokane League's No. 4 seed and come in with a record of 12-11.
The Chiefs need three more wins to qualify for their first 4A state tournament berth.
Against Walla Walla, Jordan Loera paced the Chiefs with 16 points and six assists. Carly Noyes controlled the paint by collecting 15 points and 12 rebounds, while junior guard Kelly Sutherland added 14 points.
Moses Lake did much of its damage at the free-throw line, going 20 of 28, and limited the Blue Devils to 35 percent shooting from the floor (17 of 49).
Walla Walla had eight 3-pointer as a team, and Jennifer Keyes had a game-high 21 points, but the Chiefs had them in an immediate hole with a 17-8 lead after one quarter.
One night earlier, the Chiefs opened district play with a 65-53 win over the Richland Bombers. Loera and Noyes dominated, scoring 19 points apiece as Moses Lake ripped off a 37-20 halftime lead.
Sutherland added 13 points for Moses Lake, while Jamie Arthurs had 15 points to pace the Bombers.
Othello 61, Ephrata 33
EPHRATA - The Lady Huskies also achieved something they'd never done before, winning their first Central Washington Athletic Conference title on Saturday with a blowout of the Lady Tigers.
Othello (19-2 overall, 16-2 CWAC) got 22 points from Allison Walker and 13 from Courtney Kirkwood, cruising to its 17th straight win in the process. The Huskies will host No. 8 seed Quincy in a first-round district playoff game on Thursday at 7 p.m.
Othello led 28-13 at halftime and had all nine players score. Ephrata (1-19, 1-17) ended its season, and got eight points from Greer Monson in defeat.
ACH 54, Cusick 41
SPOKANE - The Lady Warriors earned the Northeast District's No. 1 seed to state on Friday, overpowering the Panthers in the second quarter en route to the win.
Cusick (15-7) entered the game as a favorite on paper, but Almira/Coulee-Hartline evened its record at 11-11 as Breanna Martin led all scorers with 18 points. Niki Porterfield scored nine, with Megan Osborne and Sarah Gloyn added eight apiece.
The Warriors open 1B state tournament play on Wednesday at the Yakima SunDome, playing Taholah at 9 a.m. The winner gets a quarterfinal date on Thursday at 4 p.m. against either Trout Lake-Glenwood or Colton.
ACH used a 23-9 run in the second quarter against Cusick to lead 32-18 at halftime.
Lind-Ritzville 50, DeSales 23
SPOKANE - On Saturday, the Lady Broncos advanced in the Northeast 2B district tournament with a rout of the Irish at Mount Spokane High School.
A slow offensive start didn't derail Lind-Ritzville, which outscored DeSales 46-17 over the final three periods. Laura Cain paced the Broncos with 10 points, and Kelsey Arlt chipped in eight points.
Lind-Ritzville tries to climb a huge mountain tonight with a state berth on the line. The Broncos play Northeast League champion Northwest Christian at 4:15 p.m. at Mount Spokane.
East Valley 63, Quincy 34
YAKIMA - The Lady Jackrabbits didn't fare well in their CWAC regular-season finale, and as a result, get to play top-seeded Othello on Thursday.
Quincy (5-15 overall, 5-13 CWAC) got a game-high 19 points from Tashia Zamarron, but no other Jack had more than four points. Meanwhile, second-seeded East Valley (16-4, 15-3) got 16 points from Arianna Mohsenian and 10 from Lauren Walker, finishing off the victory with a 22-9 run in the fourth quarter.
Pateros 30, Moses Lake Christian 17
WENATCHEE - With a chance to qualify for their first-ever 1B state tournament, the Lady Lions never found the basket on Saturday.
Moses Lake Christian (11-11) never scored more than eight points in any period, and that was enough to allow the Nannies to earn the North Central League's No. 2 seed to state.
Michelle Bruno had 11 points and six steals for Pateros, which led 12-2 after one quarter and never trailed. Clara Hull added 10 points and 15 rebounds.
The Lions got five points from Lynnsee Moberg and four apiece from Heidi Sandberg and Ashley Cole.
Moses Lake Christian 54, Pateros 40
WENATCHEE - The Lions earned their third straight trip to the 1B state tournament, knocking off the Billygoats for the North Central League's No. 2 seed.
Moses Lake Christian improved to 15-6 overall, and opens state on Wednesday at the Yakima SunDome. The Lions play Lummi at 5:30 p.m., and a win would match them against Klickitat or Garfield-Palouse in Thursday's quarterfinals.
Against Pateros, the Lions got a game-high 19 points out of star Adrian Moffet. Taylor Sandberg added 10 points, and Moses Lake Christian used a 19-8 second-quarter run to erase an early 16-10 deficit.
Pateros got 10 points apiece from Kyle Richardson, Abe Wilson and Brandon Harvey.
Ephrata 62, Othello 47
EPHRATA - The Tigers got a good all-around team effort on Senior Night at Marty O'Brien Court, clinching the CWAC's No. 2 seed for districts on Tuesday.
Ephrata (18-2, 16-2) got 13 points from Nathan Wash, 10 from C.J. Curnutt, and eight apiece from Derrick Webb and Ryan Lutz. Leading scorers Patrick Simon and Daniel Simon needed only 12 combined points.
"We played all the seniors equal minutes, so it was a good night and the kids played hard," Tigers coach Brandon Evenson said.
Landon Lange dished out six assists for the Tigers, while Derek Miller had eight points and seven boards. The Tigers also came up with 15 steals.
Roman Pruneda paced the Huskies with 13 points, but the Huskies never recovered after trailing 25-16 at halftime.
Ephrata hosts No. 7 Quincy to open the district playoffs, a 7 p.m. start on Tuesday.
Odessa 63, Curlew 58, OT
DEER PARK - On Saturday, the Tigers earned the Northeast District's No. 2 seed to state with an exciting, come-from-behind win over the Cougars.
Odessa (11-10 overall) opens 1B state tournament action on Wednesday at the Yakima SunDome, playing traditional powerhouse Sunnyside Christian at 2 p.m. The Tigers will face either Rosalia or North River on Thursday.
Against Curlew (17-8), Odessa used 17 points from Travis Todd and 15 apiece from James Glenn and Bryce Todd to cement the win.
The Tigers dropped a 60-54 overtime decision on Friday, allowing the Cusick Panthers to earn the top seed to state.
Odessa led 16-8 after one quarter, but Cusick got a big third-quarter run to get back in contention. Travis Todd had 27 points for the Tigers in the loss.
Selah 70, Othello 59
ELLENSBURG - Friday's loss to Ephrata meant the Huskies tied for the eighth and final spot to districts, and they lost the loser-out game on Saturday to the hot-shooting Vikings.
Selah was 64 percent (23 of 36) from the floor, and steadily increased it 30-23 halftime lead in the second half.
Othello, which ended its season at 5-16 overall, got 13 points from Jakob Scott and 12 from Gabe Cantu.
East Valley 77, Quincy 37
YAKIMA - The Red Devils buried the visiting Jackrabbits in the second half, winning the CWAC regular-season finale for both squads on Friday.
Quincy (7-13 overall, 5-13 CWAC) played well in the first half and trailed 30-28 heading to the third quarter. It was still a close game with eight minutes left, before East Valley closed the game with a 30-5 spurt.
Kevin Komstadius led the Red Devils with 19 points, while Nate Morales scored 10 and Michael Rogstad and Jon Buchanan added 10 apiece.
The Jacks got 10 points from Skyler Perez, nine from Cory Keller and eight from Jesse Gonzales. Quincy plays at No. 2 Ephrata on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the CWAC playoff opener.
Northwest Christian 51, Lind-Ritzville 43
SPOKANE - The Broncos stuck with the powerful Crusaders all the way, but Northwest Christian improved its mark to 22-1 in a 2B regional playoff opener at Mount Spokane High School.
Lind-Ritzville (18-6) needs to win today at Mount Spokane, a 1 p.m. start against Waitsburg, to keep its state tournament hopes alive.
Against Northwest Christian, the Broncos got 14 points from Jamie Stevenson, 13 from Cory Whitmore and 10 from Alex Pfeifer.