Suns cast shadow on Chiefs
KENNEWICK — The Southridge Suns pulled off the improbable Friday night when they knocked off No.4 Moses Lake 55-54 at home.
The Chiefs trailed 16-8 after the first quarter before Moses Lake battled back for a 54-50 lead with 2:13 left on the clock when Chayla Hirz put her free-throw attempt through the twine.
Moses Lake managed to keep themselves in the game Friday night without the help from senior guard Kelly Sutherland. Sutherland injured her ankle less than three minutes into Friday’s contest.
With a four-point advantage on the road, it looked as if the Chiefs would escape Kennewick with a victory. The Suns tried to close the deficit with 1:30 left in the game when Erica Colter pulled up behind the 3-point line. As Colter attempted to release the ball, Moses Lake senior Carly Noyes blocked the shot.
The Suns recovered and Heather Worley sent a 3-point attempt off of the backboard and into the net with 1:14 left to help Southridge pull within a point of Moses Lake at 54-53.
With 16 seconds left in the game, a Southridge foul gave the Chiefs possession of the ball at half court. Noyes attempted to inbound the ball to sophomore point guard Jordan Loera to seal the victory for Moses Lake.
However, the Suns seemed set on the Chiefs when Noyes’ pass bounced away from Loera before Southridge dove on the loose ball to take possession in the final seconds
Southridge coach Kristen Davis called a timeout with seconds left to play to set up play for the desperate Suns.
After the Suns inbounded the ball following the timeout, Noyes blocked another 3-point attempt from Colter, seemingly handing the Chiefs the victory. The loose ball bounced off a Moses Lake defender, giving the Suns possession of the basketball.
With 2 seconds left in the game, Hirz fouled a Southridge player, giving the Suns possession of the ball on the sideline.
The Suns inbounded the basketball to Jamie Lyons in the corner.
Lyons dribbled once to seperate herself from the Moses Lake defense before pulling up and draining her attempt as the buzzer sounded to drop the Chiefs to 9-3 overall and 2-2 in conference play.
Loera led the Chiefs in scoring with 17 points while the Southridge defense managed to hold Noyes to only 10 points while she grabbed 10 rebounds. Noyes also led Moses Lake with four blocks.
Sutherland missed Saturday’s win over Kennewick and will miss Tuesday’s conference game with the Davis Pirates.
Moses Lake 46
Kennewick 28
MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake Chiefs girls basketball team rebounded from Friday night’s loss to Southridge to dominate the Kennewick Lions 46-28 at home.
The Chiefs ran out to a 16-6 first quarter lead and never looked back as they rolled to a 25-11 halftime lead.
Moses Lake continued to add to their lead in the second half as the Chiefs snapped their two-game conference losing streak to improve to 3-2 in conference play.
While the Chiefs earned the victory, Moses Lake found out they would be without senior guard Kelly Sutherland for at least another game with an ankle injury. Sutherland injured her ankle during the first quarter of Friday’s loss to Southridge and will be out of Tuesday’s game with the Davis Pirates.
Carly Noyes scored 21 points Saturday night to lead Moses Lake to the victory over Kennewick. Loera added nine points for the Chiefs.