North fends off South in classic

MOSES LAKE — Some of the best girls high school basketball players from throughout the Columbia Basin assembled Wednesday night for the second annual Big Bend All-Star Classic senior game at the DeVries Activities Center.

For the second time in the game’s short history, the North came away with the victory in the All-Star Classic.

The North team consisted of players from Colton, Lind-Ritzville, Moses Lake, Moses Lake Christian Academy (MLCA), and Soap Lake. The South was made up of players from Connell, Othello, Pullman, Royal, Shadle Park and Warden.

Esther Timofeyev of the MLCA Lady Lions earned the North’s Most Valuable Player award after leading all scorers with 22 points and grabbing 11 rebounds for the double-double.

Timofeyev said it was a special feeling to be named the North’s Most Valuable Player.

“It’s an honor,” she said. “I definitely couldn’t have done it without my teammates.”

After the game, Big Bend women’s head basketball coach Preston Wilks said Timofeyev’s performance said a lot about basketball in the Columbia Basin.

“She showed that it doesn’t matter where you play,” he said. “It doesn’t matter what (classification) you come from. If you can play, you can play.”

The two teams battled throughout the first half with the North grabbing a 25-16 lead midway through the first — the largest lead of the game for either team.

Although the North took a nine-point lead midway through the first half, the South stormed back to take a 35-31 lead going into the break.

Despite trailing at the half, the North fought back in the second to pull even with the South five minutes into the 20-minute half.

With the two teams tied, the All-Star squads battled back and forth, playing through eight lead changes and seven ties.

After struggling to close out the first half, the North had little trouble building a lead in the late stages of the game.

The North managed to take a 62-60 lead with 27 seconds left before a foul from Shadle Park’s Bianca Pope sent Moses Lake senior Chayla Hirz to the line with 16.6 seconds left.

With little time remaining in the game, Hirz seemed to put the game out of reach with a pair of free throws to put the North ahead 64-60.

While Hirz’s perfect trip to the line gave the North a two-possession advantage, Othello senior Justine Villareal hit a 3-pointer with two seconds left to close the gap to 64-63 late in the game.

After a South time out, the North inbounded the ball.

As the inbounds pass floated through the air, Royal’s Tawnee Gonzalez stole the pass.

However, her shot at the buzzer sailed wide and bounced off of the glass and the North held on for their second consecutive All-Star Classic victory.

Moses Lake’s Kelly Sutherland added 16 points for the North squad and Pope led the South with 16 points of her own. Pope was named the South’s Most Valuable Player.

After the game, Wilks said he appreciates the efforts of all involved with the annual event.

“I thought the girls showed a lot of resilience,” he said. “They really showed why they are all stars and why they had great high school careers. When one team came down and would bang a 3, the other side would come down and match it.”

During the break at the second annual All-Star Classic, Courtney Druffel of Colton grabbed the 3-point shoot out championship with a victory over the South’s Eva Grassl.

In the end, Wilks said the Big Bend All-Star Classic was a success.

“It was great,” he said of the game. “Our goal is to get three or four girls (to play at Big Bend) next year. Overall, I was pretty impressed. They came out and played a heck of a game.”