Moses Lake boys fall at Eastmont
Eastmont 70, Moses Lake 51; ACH 61, Manson 53; Chewelah 84, Columbia Basin Secondary 42
WENATCHEE — One superior post player made a huge difference against the Moses Lake Chiefs basketball team last night and it showed in Eastmont’s 70-51 win on Tuesday night.
Eastmont was led by Malachi Roberts who scored a game high 26 points and that combined with poor Chiefs’ shooting doomed Moses Lake to its second straight loss.
“We came out and player strong but then we started getting into foul trouble,” Chiefs coach Rolland Hansen said. “That got us out of sync. That big kid of theirs made a difference. He’s big and strong who overpowered us a little bit. We didn’t handle him very well.”
Moses Lake (1-8) trailed 16-11 after the first quarter and 31-21 at halftime before Eastmont went on a 26-15 run in the third to put the game away.
The Chiefs were hurt by 2-for-15 three-point shooting and 33 percent shooting for the game.
“They weren’t poor shots or looks, they just weren’t going in,” Hansen said. “When you start falling behind you also get a little desperate and you start pressing and missing open shots you might normally make.”
Hansen was also disappointed with his team’s 2-3 matchup zone.
“We weren’t aggressive,” he said. “We weren’t trapping them or getting into the passing lanes. It was more like Christmas break defense.”
Bryce Perez scored 14 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for Moses Lake, while Matt Franz added 13 points.
“We’re a good team,” Hansen said. “We just didn’t play very well tonight.”
ACH 61, Manson 53
WATERVILLE — With a full lineup at its disposal the Almira/Coulee-Hartline boys basketball team began play at the Waterville Basketball Tournament with an unconvincing 61-53 win over Manson last night.
They play in the tournament final tonight at 7:30 p.m. against Okanagan.
The Warriors (5-3) trailed Manson 28-25 at halftime before finally getting into gear.
“We began to press and do some things that changed their momentum a little bit,” ACH coach Scott Isaak said. “They didn’t like the press very well and we got after it. Manson was scrappy and unorthodox but they know how to score and they hustle.”
ACH were able to use their superior athleticism and increased depth with the addition of Cody Jess to pull away to a 44-37 lead after the third quarter.
Jess missed the first six weeks of the season due to a leg injury sustained during the football season.
Still Manson wouldn’t go away as the Warriors had to scrape out the win in a tough fourth quarter of play.
“Hard work makes up for so much and I hope we can do that every night and we didn’t tonight,” Scott Isaak said. “There were some good things tonight though especially getting Cody Jess back.”
Derek Isaak and Jess each scored 18 points to lead the Warriors while freshman Thunder Wellhausen had his breakout game according to Isaak with 15 points and eight rebounds.
“We play Okanagan who is the fourth-ranked team in 1A,” Scott Isaak said. “So either we’re going to bring a game or we’re going to get rocked. They are big and very talented. We’re going to have to guarantee we will box the boards and take care of the basketball.”
Chewelah 84, Columbia Basin Secondary 42
REARDAN — A season-opening three-game winning streak for Columbia Basin Secondary School came to a crashing halt as Chewelah beat The Phoenix 84-42 in a Tuesday afternoon semifinal of the Reardan Boys Basketball Tournament.
“It was good to play a strong team here to help us prepare for league play,” Columbia Basin Secondary coach James Shank said. “They are a tough 1A opponent and our guys had a rough game.”
Chewelah jumped out early to a 21-10 lead and built it to 40-22 going into intermission.
David Cantu led the Phoenix (3-1) with 15 points.