Moses Lake conquers Kentwood

TACOMA - One of the signatures of this year's Moses Lake girls basketball team has been putting opponents in an early hole.

The Kentwood Conquerors learned that lesson the hard way on Thursday night.

An 18-5 lead after one quarter was enough for Moses Lake in its 4A state quarterfinal game at the Tacoma Dome, as the Chiefs survived a couple Kentwood surges to win 63-52.

Freshman point guard Jordan Loera had a spectacular game, going for 25 points, four assists and two steals as Moses Lake improved to 23-5. The Chiefs play in the semifinals tonight at 8:30 p.m. against league rival Pasco, a 55-45 quarterfinal winner over Ballard.

Loera was 7 of 12 from the field and 8 of 8 at the foul line. But as important as her numbers were, the biggest contribution might have come from senior guard Lorin Montgomery. With the Conquerors roughing up forward Carly Noyes at every opportunity, the Chiefs' outside shooters had to step up, and they did.

Montgomery scored eight of her 13 points in the first period, including a pair of 3-pointers. Her big effort came one day after she went scoreless against Jackson, and Montgomery received the game ball on Thursday.

"She just did a great job," Chiefs coach Matt Strophy said. "That's really nice to see those leaders step up and get the job done."

Montgomery and Loera made Kentwood pay for its aggressiveness inside, combining for five treys on the night. The Conquerors used a 2-3 zone and took away the passing lanes for Noyes, allowing some open looks for the guards.

"That limited us a little bit at the beginning, but we made enough offensive adjustments where we were able to keep our lead," Strophy said.

The Noyes sisters - Carly and Ann - combined for 39 points in Wednesday's win over Jackson, and they got things going in the second half. Junior Carly tallied 11 points to go along with 15 rebounds and five blocked shots, while senior Ann chipped in 10 points.

Carly Noyes had just one shot attempt in the first half, which ended with a 26-23 Moses Lake lead. Kentwood closed the gap considerably with an 18-8 run in the second period.

"When we got it into her they were double- and triple-teaming her," Strophy said of Carly Noyes. "She did the right thing in passing the ball out. She played very unselfishly tonight."

But with Ann Noyes and guard Kelly Sutherland in some foul trouble, the Chiefs knew they'd need their big gun to score. They set her up immediately in the third quarter, as Sutherland found her open underneath.

"In the second half our focus was, 'We've got work that ball around enough to where we can get her some touches,'" Strophy said. "When she gets the touches, if she can't score, she can at least create."

The Chiefs regained a comfortable lead with a 21-12 third-quarter run, and led by 17 points in the fourth after the Noyes sisters connected down low. But Kentwood was far from done, thanks to junior guard Lindsey Moore.

Moore killed Skyview in Wednesday's first round with 24 points, and she keyed a 9-0 run with a pair of 3-pointers. The Conquerors got within four points in the final two minutes before the Chiefs hit several free throws to pull away.

Moore had 20 points, six assists and three steals, but Loera's dogged defense frustrated her in the first half - her only three points came at the foul line.

"We had the same philosophy we did the night before (with Jackson star Kristi Kingma)," Strophy said. "We kept Jordan up on top of our matchup zone and that worked well for us. (Moore) really struggled from the perimeter and had to start attacking."

While the Chiefs are determined to reach Saturday's 9 p.m. championship game and win it, they've achieved a goal they set after regionals - earning a trophy.

"It was pretty much unanimous - 'We want to play on Saturday and bring home hardware,'" Strophy said. "We've accomplished that goal."

Kentwood 5 18 12 17 -52

Moses Lake 18 8 21 16 -63

KENTWOOD (52): Genger 6, Moore 20, Thomson 7, Huerta, McGuire, Wahlberg 5, Jenkins 7, Mills, Milovic 5, Rider, Johnson 2. Totals 20-59 6-9 52.

MOSES LAKE (63): Sutherland 3, Loera 25, Montgomery 13, A. Noyes 10, C. Noyes 11, Hirz, Brischle, Williamson, Ballinger, Kenner 1. Totals 21-51 13-22 63.