Falcons fend off MLCA

YAKIMA, Wash. — The Moses Lake Christian Academy Lady Lions shook off some first-quarter jitters Wednesday against Sprague-Harrinton in the first round of the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association 1B girls basketball playoffs, but the Falcons held on to fly away with a 31-26 victory.

The Lady Lions fell behind 10-4 in the first quarter, but Moses Lake Christian rebounded to pull within 15-10 heading into the half.

Moses Lake Christian head coach Bryce McPartland said his team was nervous heading into their first game at the state tournament.

“It was their first game at state,” he said. “From that perspective, a five-point loss isn’t too bad. We overcame some jitters in the first quarter.”

Moses Lake Christian senior Esther Timofeyev scored a game-high 15 points and grabbed 17 rebounds to record the double-double for the Lady Lions.

Although the Lady Lions trailed entering the half, Moses Lake Christian managed to cut their second-half deficit down to three points twice in the second half.

McPartland said his team needs to re-focus and execute if the Lady Lions hope to advance.

“Our margin of error is pretty slim,” he said. “We need to take advantage of the things that work for us. We can’t afford to leave points on the floor. We need to be efficient.”

Although Moses Lake Christian is one loss away from elimination, McPartland is proud of his players.

“We lost to a team that is familiar with the state (tournament),” he said. “There isn’t anything (we) need to hang (our) heads about.”

The Lady Lions played Wishkay Valley in a loser-out consolation round game at 9 a.m.