Moffet's huge game slides Lions into quarterfinals

1B state basketball recaps

YAKIMA - As one of the state's top scorers in Class 1B, Moses Lake Christian Academy's Adrian Moffet is no stranger to taking over a ball game.

Moffet, a 6-foot-2 junior guard with a buttery smooth stroke and quick feet, was too much for the Lummi Blackhawks to keep up with in Wednesday's 1B boys state basketball tournament opener, scoring 27 points as Moses Lake Christian won 58-55.

Moffet had averaged 21 points per game during the regular season, but nearly matched that output in the first half on Wednesday with 20. The Lions led 23-17 at halftime, though Lummi rallied for a brief lead in the third quarter.

It was Moffet's teammates who came up with the clutch plays down the stretch. Jesse Bassett's layup gave the Lions the lead for good, 32-31, late in the third period, and fellow senior Kameron Firouzi canned a 3-pointer that sparked a 9-0 run in the fourth.

"In the second half, they went box-and-one against us, and it took a while to kind of get our bearings and figure out what we wanted to do," Moses Lake Christian coach Lonny Brown said, referring to the Blackhawks' defensive strategy aimed at Moffet.

The Lions (15-6), who are coming off an eighth-place trophy at state in 2007, advanced to today's quarterfinal round. They'll play Garfield-Palouse, a 50-34 winner over Klickitat yesterday, at 7:30 p.m.

Moses Lake Christian had Lummi in foul trouble throughout the game, and ended up hitting 22 of 38 from the foul line. Moffet was 11 of 14 at the charity stripe and had a team-high seven rebounds.

Neither Bassett or Firouzi shot well - the pair combined to hit 6 of 21 from the field - but Bassett had 14 points and four assists, while Firouzi added eight points, six rebounds and four steals.

Jordan Wilson had 19 points and 15 boards for Lummi (12-9), and Gale Jefferson added 11 points.

Moses Lake Christian was able to shake off a spotty start, largely due to Moffet's play.

"They played pretty tight in the first half, but they relaxed a little bit and just started playing basketball," Brown said. "I think everybody here is in the same boat - everyone's a little nervous to get started."

Garfield-Palouse enters Thursday's quarterfinal with a 20-4 mark, and Brown is mainly concerned with the defensive end and slowing down the Vikings' sharpshooters.

"They're real guard-oriented - they shoot the three well," Brown noted. "It's going to be a matter of controlling their guard play and not giving them any uncontested shots."

MLCA 9 14 11 24 -58

Lummi 9 8 14 24 -55

MLCA (58) - Moffet 7-16 11-14 27, Gjefle 0-3 0-2 0, Bassett 4-14 5-10 14, Sandberg 1-5 2-4 4, Firouzi 2-7 3-6 8, McNamara 1-1 0-0 2, Murrell 1-3 1-2 3. Totals 16-49 22-38 58.

Lummi (55) - James 3-8 1-2 7, Tom 0-0 0-0 6, Dennis 2-5 0-0 5, I. Finkbonner 0-1 0-0 0, Jefferson 4-9 2-2 11, K. Finkbonner 1-7 0-0 3, Jameson 1-2 0-0 2, Revey 0-0 1-2 1, Lopez 0-2 1-2 1, Wilson 8-18 0-0 19. Totals 22-59 5-9 55.

3-pointers: MLCA 4-18 (Moffett 2-6, Firouzi 1-4, Bassett 1-6, Murrell 0-2), Lummi 6-14 (Wilson 3-7, K. Finkbonner 1-2, Dennis 1-2, Jefferson 1-3). Rebounds: MLCA 36 (Moffett 7, Sandberg 6, Firouzi 6). Lummi 45 (Wilson 15). Assists: MLCA 7 (Bassett 4). Lummi 12 (Tom 4). Steals: MLCA 9 (Firouzi 4). Lummi 4 (James 3). Blocked shots: MLCA 2, Lummi 1. Fouled out: Jefferson, K. Finkbonner. Total fouls: MLCA 12, Lummi 26. Technical fouls: None. Turnovers: MLCA 8, Lummi 16.

Sunnyside Christian 48, Odessa 20

YAKIMA - The Tigers were shut down at the offensive end, shooting 21 percent from the floor as the defending state champion Knights overwhelmed them in a first-round state 1B game.

Odessa (11-11) drops into the consolation bracket and plays again today at 10:30 a.m. against North River, a 51-40 loser to Rosalia on Wednesday. The loser of that game is out of the tournament.

The Tigers' two biggest scorers, guard James Glenn and forward Travis Todd, were held completely in check by the Knights' matchup zone defense. Glenn shot only 2 of 8 from the field and scored four points, while Todd's four points all came from the free-throw line as he was 0 of 5 from the field.

Odessa's leading scorer was Aaron Bruya with five.

Meanwhile, Sunnyside Christian star Joel Koopmans hit his season scoring average of 17 points, nailing 8 of 13 tries from the field. The Knights also had big advantages in rebounding (31-21), blocked shots (6-0) and turnovers (15-8).

Third-ranked Sunnyside Christian takes on Rosalia in today's quarterfinals at 5:30 p.m.

Odessa 7 4 5 4 -20

SC 7 12 13 16 -48

Odessa (20) - Glenn 2-8, 0-0 4, Palmer 1-3 0-0 3, B. Todd 0-5 1-2 1, Downey 0-1 0-0 0, T. King 1-3 1-4 3, R. King 0-0 0-0 0, Allen 0-0 0-0 0, Bruya 2-4 0-0 5, Campbell 0-0 0-0 0, Schutz 0-0 0-0 0, Read 0-0 0-0 0, T. Todd 0-5, 4-10, 4. Totals 6-29 6-16 20.

Sunnyside Christian (48) - Koopmans 8-13 0-0 17, Friend 2-3 1-2 5, Van Boven 3-5 0-0 7, Brouwer 2-9 0-0 5, DeJong 3-7 0-0 7, Ryl. Van Belle 0-0 0-0 0, Vogel 1-1 0-0 3, Crabtree 0-1 0-0 0, Ryk. Van Belle 1-2 0-0 2, Broersma 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 21-44 1-2 48.

3-pointers: Odessa 2-6 (Bruya 1-1, Palmer 1-2, Glenn 0-1, B. Todd 0-1, T. Todd 0-1). SC 5-15 (Vogel 1-1, Koopmans 1-2, Van Boven 1-3, DeJong 1-4, Brouwer 1-5). Rebounds: Odessa 21 (Palmer 4), SC 31 (Friend 6, Van Boven 5). Assists: Odessa 1, SC 6 (Van Boven 3, DeJong 3). Steals: Odessa 4, SC 12 (Van Boven 4). Blocked shots: Odessa 0, SC 6 (Friend 5). Fouled out: None. Total fouls: Odessa 6, SC 9. Technical fouls: None. Turnovers: Odessa 15, SC 8.

ACH 55, Taholah 40

YAKIMA - Playing in their first state tournament in four seasons, the Lady Warriors finished with a flourish, outscoring the Chitwins 16-2 in the fourth quarter to move into the 1B quarterfinals.

Almira/Coulee-Hartline (12-11) overall got 16 points from Nikki Osborne - 11 in the second half - to rally from a 24-21 halftime deficit. Osborne added eight rebounds, six steals and five assists. Her 3-pointer with two seconds left in the third period put ACH ahead to stay.

Sarah Gloyn had 13 points for the Warriors, while Kazia Starkenburg led all players with 11 rebounds. ACH forced 22 turnovers - including 16 steals - and made 16 free throws, 13 more than Taholah (13-9).

Freshman Tillie McCrory had 12 points and nine rebounds for Taholah, and teammate Kailani Charley had 11 points.

The Warriors have a tough matchup in today's 4 p.m. quarterfinal game, facing the third-ranked Colton Wildcats. Colton pounded out a 64-30 victory over Trout Lake-Glenwood on Wednesday.

The Wildcats feature one of the state's top players in 5-foot-9 senior center Alisa Moehrle, who scored 19 points per game, and senior guard Ashley Nygreen scores better than 13 per game.

A quarterfinal victory would match the Warriors against the Pateros-Touchet winner in Friday's semifinals at 5:30 p.m.

Taholah 9 15 14 2 -40

ACH 6 15 18 16 -55

Taholah (40) - Bennet 0-0 0-0 0, Moody 2-5 0-0 4, Kautz 1-3 1-2 3, Adams 0-3, 0-0 0, Ralston 0-2 0-2 0, J. Charley 3-17 0-0 6, K. Charley 4-9 0-0 11, McCrory 5-15 2-5 12, M. Charley 0-0 0-0 0, Johnstone 2-6 0-0 4. Totals 17-60 3-9 40.

ACH (55) - Starkenburg 2-7 0-2 5, Bodeau 2-5 0-0 6, Gloyn 4-14 4-5 13, Edwards 2-2 3-4 7, N. Osborne 4-9 7-10 16, Martin 0-1 2-2 2, Porterfield 1-8 0-2 2, M. Osborne 2-3 0-0 4. Totals 17-49 16-25 55.

3-pointers: Taholah 3-13 (K. Charley 3-8, Adams 0-2, J. Charley 0-3). ACH 5-17 (Bodeau 2-4, N. Osborne 1-3, Starkenburg 1-4, Gloyn 1-6). Rebounds: Taholah 45 (McCrory 9, Ralston 7). ACH 38 (Starkenburg 11, N. Osborne 8). Assists: Taholah 12 (Kautz 6). ACH 10 (N. Osborne 5). Steals: Taholah 7 (J. Charley 3, K. Charley 3). ACH 16 (N. Osborne 6). Blocked shots: Taholah 1, ACH 0. Fouled out: Kautz, J. Charley. Total fouls: Taholah 20, ACH 11. Technical fouls: None. Turnovers: Taholah 22, ACH 14.