Lions take second at 1B tournament
Members of the Moses Lake Christian boys basketball team poses at halfcourt during the 2009 Washington Interscholastic Activities 1B state championship last week in Yakima. Vicki Brown/Courtesy photo
YAKIMA, Wash. — The top-ranked Moses Lake Christian Academy played their way to the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association 1B boys state championship game Saturday, but Tri-Cities Prep proved too much for the Lions.
The Lions fought with the Jaguars all night, but tournament MVP Sergio Lopez went 6-for-8 from the field to lead Tri-Cities Prep to the win with 13 points.
Moses Lake Christian head coach Lonnie Brown said his team played a tough game against Tri-Cities Prep.
“It was a good basketball game,” he said. “Tri-Cities Prep was a little bit better Saturday night. A couple of shots didn’t go down for us, (but) to be that close to a state championship is a big deal.”
Moses Lake Christian tried to control the contest in the first half and took a 23-22 lead into the break.
The Jaguars scored the first seven points of the second half to take a 29-24 lead over the Lions. However, Moses Lake Christian would respond, ultimately tying the game at 31-31.
With time running out in the third quarter, Lopez sank a jump shot and hit another from behind the 3-point arc to put the Jaguars up 36-31 heading into the fourth quarter.
Despite shooting just 31 percent from the field, the Lions kept themselves in the game thanks to seniors Riggs Yarbro and Adrian Moffet. Yarbro had a game-high 20 points and Moffet scored 13 points.
Brown said Riggs and Moffet played hard throughout the tournament.
“Riggs played well all week,” Brown said. “I can’t say enough about Riggs and Adrian had a great semifinal game with 34 points.”
Although the Lions fell in the championship game, Brown said his team had a great season.
“I am proud of them,” he said. “They can keep their heads high. We had an undefeated league championship, a district championship and were second at state.”