Lions move into North Central hunt

Boys basketball recaps

MOSES LAKE - The Moses Lake Christian Academy Lions earned a sweep of their two North Central League opponents this weekend, moving to 4-1 in league play with a 70-36 drubbing of the Mansfield Kernels on Saturday night.

Adrian Moffet led three Lions in double figures, scoring 18 points. Kameron Firouzi had 14 points and six assists for the Lions, while Tim Gjefle added 10 points. Jesse Bassett had six points and seven assists, and Johnny Roberts chipped in five points and six rebounds.

The Lions took immediate control with a 26-9 surge in the first quarter and led 43-14 at the half.

The victory came on the heels of a 65-55 victory at Pateros one night earlier. A 20-10 run in the fourth period sparked them over the Billygoats.

Moffet scored 25 points, and Bassett and Gjefle each had 10 for Moses Lake Christian. That was enough to overcome the 30 points of Pateros' Terence Dietrich. Moses Lake Christian also won the rebounding battle, 30-23.

The Lions led 37-26 at halftime, but a 19-8 surge from the Billygoats tied things up after three quarters.

Moses Lake Christian hosts Wilson Creek on Friday at 7:30 p.m.

Saturday

Lind-Ritzville 63, Almira/Coulee-Hartline 29

HARTLINE - The Broncos stayed just a half-game back of second-place Reardan in the Bi-County League standings, routing the homestanding Warriors.

Lind-Ritzville (14-3 overall, 10-3 league) dominated the first quarter, leading 21-8, and was never threatened, holding the Warriors (5-11, 4-8) to single digits in each quarter.

Bronco senior guard Alex Pfeifer led all scorers with 13 points, Jamie Stevenson chipped in 11 and Cory Kiesz added 10. Quade Henderson paced ACH with 10 points.

Lind-Ritzville hosts the Davenport Gorillas at Lind on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. ACH hosts league-leading Northwest Christian, also on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.

Odessa 56, Valley Christian 36

ODESSA - James Glenn scored a game-high 14 points and the Tigers evened their overall record with an easy Bi-County League win over the visiting Panthers.

Odessa jumped out to an 18-8 lead after one quarter and pulled away with a 15-5 run in the fourth quarter. Luke Palmer scored 12 for the Tigers, Bryce Todd added nine, and Aaron Bruya and Travis Todd had seven apiece.

The Tigers (7-7 overall, 4-7 league) play at Wilbur-Creston on Tuesday, a 7:30 p.m. start

Pasco 82, Moses Lake 70

MOSES LAKE - The Chiefs struggled defensively, allowing the Bulldogs to shoot 42 free throws, and fell to 0-5 in Columbia Basin League play.

Pasco made 33 of its 42 attempts (79 percent) at the charity stripe, and overcame an early 19-17 deficit by outscoring Moses Lake 29-15 in the second quarter. The Bulldogs also dominated on the boards, grabbing 49 rebounds to Moses Lake's 20.

Moses Lake's Josh Loera led all scorers with 24 points. Michael Olaniyan scored 14, Casey Hudson had 12 and Jarred Walker added 10. Andre Griffin paced Pasco with 23 points.

The Chiefs are at Wenatchee on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.

Prosser 56, Quincy 40

PROSSER - The Mustangs swept the season series from the visiting Jackrabbits, pulling away in the second and third quarters for a Central Washington Athletic Conference victory.

Prosser's Kellen Crawford recorded 21 points and nine rebounds in the win. Eric Martin scored 15 for the Jacks and Jay Cedergreen added nine, but Prosser shot 61 percent from the floor and limited Quincy to 39 percent.

The Jacks host the Wapato Wolves on Friday at 7:30 p.m.

East Valley 71, Othello 58

OTHELLO - The Huskies led 34-33 at halftime, but fell to the visiting Red Devils in CWAC play.

East Valley got 27 points from Kevin Komstadius and 14 from Matt Rogstad to pull away in the second half. Jeremy Cerillo paced Othello with 12 points, Judah Gowan scored nine and Jakob Scott added eight.

The Huskies travel to Grandview on Friday for a 7:30 p.m tip-off.

Columbia-Burbank 58, Warden 40

WARDEN - The Cougars were overwhelmed by the play of James Brown and Eric Leichtfuss, who led the Coyotes to a South Central Athletic Conference East Division victory.

Brown posted 24 points and 16 rebounds, while Leitchfuss added 17. Burbank went up 20-8 after one quarter and cemented the win with a 19-9 surge in the fourth.

Ben Bisnett had a solid outing for Warden, recording 16 points, eight rebounds and three blocks. Kevin Whitaker added nine points and eight boards.

The Cougars travel to Connell on Friday for a 7:30 p.m. start.

Connell 69, Royal 48

ROYAL CITY - Connell stars Spencer Hadley and Brett Clyde teamed up for 42 points as the Eagles rolled over the Knights in SCAC East action.

Royal's Blair Collins went off for 20 points and Michael Hebdon chipped in 12, but Hadley had a game-high 27 and Clyde added 15. The Eagles led 37-30 at halftime and owned the fourth period with a 16-6 surge.

The Knights are at Columbia-Burbank on Friday at 7:30 p.m.

Kittitas 47, Soap Lake 41

SOAP LAKE - Marcos Delgado had a game-high 16 points for the host Eagles, but it wasn't enough for Soap Lake to avoid losing for the fifth time in six North Central League outings.

The Eagles went on a 15-9 surge in the third quarter that closed their deficit to 37-33, but the Koyotes won the fourth quarter 10-8.

Bryce Gibb led Kittitas with 15 points and B.J. Fletcher scored 12. Kyler Moats added 11 points for Soap Lake.

The Eagles host the Oroville Hornets on Friday at 7:30 p.m.

Friday

Ephrata 79, Othello 50

OTHELLO - The Tigers held the Huskies to 28 percent from the floor and earned a 45-32 edge in rebounds to win the CWAC rivalry game going away.

"I got to play everybody pretty good minutes," Ephrata head coach Brandon Evenson said. "(It was) a total team game, great defensive game."

Ephrata led 25-16 after one period and 41-25 at halftime. Patrick Simon had game-highs with 17 points and 12 rebounds. Ryan Lutz scored 14 points and Daniel Simon added 13.

Jeremy Cerillo led the Huskies (3-8 overall, 2-7 CWAC) with 14 points, and Judah Gowan scored 12. Roman Pruneda dished out four assists and Gabe Cantu had seven rebounds.

Other contributors for the Tigers (11-1, 9-1) included Derrick Webb (eight points, three assists) and C.J. Curnutt (10 rebounds).

Ephrata heads to Ellensburg on Friday for a 7:30 p.m. contest.

Lind-Ritzville 55, Wilbur-Creston 47

RITZVILLE - The Broncos gained a big edge on Wildcats in the battle for playoff seeding, going four games up in the race for third place in the Bi-County League.

Lind-Ritzville set the tempo with a 12-4 first-quarter lead, and after the Wildcats battled back to within 20-19 at halftime, went on a 17-9 run in the third.

The Broncos got 19 points from Jamie Stevenson, 16 from Matt Saetre and 14 from Cory Whitmore.

Almira/Coulee-Hartline 59, Liberty 53

SPANGLE - After a subpar first quarter, the Warriors broke out of their offensive funk in a big way over the final three periods to earn a Bi-County League win.

The key was a 21-13 run in the second quarter that gave ACH a 28-22 lead at halftime. Garrett Jess led all scorers with 23 points, and Cody Jess chipped in 14.

Columbia Basin Secondary 81, Mansfield 36

MANSFIELD - The Phoenix picked up a non-league blowout as four players scored in double figures.

Columbia Basin came out on fire and never let up offensively, scoring at least 16 points in every period. Marcos Essex led all scorers with 25 points, Jordan Flores had 17, and Adrian Valdez and Caleb Jensen each had 11. Erick Harper paced the Kernels with 24 points.

Richland 71, Moses Lake 55

RICHLAND - Another high-scoring game from Josh Loera didn't help the Chiefs, who squandered a 19-7 first-quarter lead.

Loera had a game-high 23 points for Moses Lake, and Michael Olaniyan added 11 points and eight rebounds. But the Bombers got 17 points from Ryan McKinney, 17 points and nine boards from Tom Sanford, and 11 points from reserve Calvin Chunn.

The Bombers scored 26 of 35 points in the second period and leaned on the Chiefs from there, shooting 21 more free throws and hitting 10 more than Moses Lake.

East Valley 50, Quincy 44

QUINCY - The Jackrabbits did a good job holding the high-powered Red Devils' offense down, but couldn't get enough scoring to earn the CWAC upset.

Quincy (4-7 overall, 2-7 CWAC) got 13 points from Jesse Gonzales and eight from Cory Keller. Leading scorer Eric Martin grabbed 12 rebounds, but was held to six points.

Meanwhile, East Valley (9-2, 7-2) got 21 points from Kevin Komstadius and 13 from Jon Buchanan to recover from an early 12-10 deficit.

River View 70, Warden 30

FINLEY - The Cougars received a whipping from the state's top-ranked 1A team, as the Panthers scored the game's first 17 points and cruised to an SCAC East win.

River View's Levi Davis hit three 3-pointers during the Panthers' opening salvo and finished with a game-high 16 points. Kevin Whitaker led Warden with nine points and nine rebounds, but the Cougars shot just 10 of 43 (23 percent) from the floor.

Kiona-Benton 40, Royal 37

BENTON CITY - The Knights led 29-25 heading to the fourth period, but the Bears closed the SCAC East contest on a 15-8 spurt.

Royal's Michael Hebdon led all scorers with 15 points, but was the only Knight in double figures. Royal was also hurt by poor free-throw shooting, as it hit just 10 of 19 from the line. Hector Quinones led the Bears with 13 points.

Bridgeport 45, Soap Lake 42

BRIDGEPORT - The Eagles got big games from Marcos Delgado and Taylor Baughman, but fell to the Mustangs in a North Central League contest.

Delgado scored 16 points and Baughman added 13 for Soap Lake, which was outscored 8-1 in the fourth quarter. The Eagles had taken a four-point lead with a 12-5 run in the third quarter.

Jose Bucio led Bridgeport with 17 points. Kyler Moats added nine for Soap Lake.

Entiat 67, Wilson Creek 26

WILSON CREEK - The visiting Tigers routed the Devils, who stayed winless in North Central League play.

Entiat led 36-14 at halftime after a 25-9 run in the second period. The Tigers (11-3 overall, 3-0 league) got 17 points from Jacob Andersen and 13 from Leo Quezada. The Devils (4-6, 0-3) got seven points apiece from Jacob Treat and Phillip Fuget.

Wilson Creek travels to Moses Lake Christian for a league game on Friday at 7:30 p.m.

Reardan 67, Odessa 39

REARDAN - The Indians routed the visiting Tigers in Bi-County League action, using a 32-16 run in the second half.

Odessa got 16 points from James Glenn and nine from Luke Palmer in the loss. Reardan, the league's No. 2 team, had three players score at least 12 points.