Boys Prep Basketball: Sunnyside Christian 49, Moses Lake Christian Academy 37

MOSES LAKE - With all their might, the much smaller Davids dressed in Moses Lake Christian Academy Lions' uniforms took the fight to Goliath.

Goliath would come in the form of a much taller and defending Class 1B champion Sunnyside Christian squad on Saturday night.

Defending with as much vigor as possible the Lions still fell short in more ways than one as they succumbed 49-37 to the taller champs.

"I think we played very hard on defense and our intensity was much higher than the past two games," Lions head coach Duke Wood said. "Our defense at least gave us a chance.  We just don't have any offensive firepower. "

It was more of story of a lack of solid shooting as the Lions (4-2) got multiple good looks agains their much taller opponents right out of the gate, but could not convert and trailed 10-3 at the end of the first quarter.

They found a way to get going behind a seven-point run, sparked by a three-pointer and layup by Joe Timofeyev and they were down 12-10.

But Sunnyside Christian responded with a 7-0 run of it's own to bump the lead back up to 19-10 before settling for a 19-14 halftime lead.

"We did stick to the game plan and we finally hit some shots after I told them we need to find the gaps and holes in the zone and attack," Wood said. "Joe had 11 points in this quarter which kept us close."

However, the Lions' guests got going in the third quarter, building a 25-14 lead and they held on to a 35-25 cushion heading into the fourth quarter.

"They started attacking the basket themselves," Wood said of Sunnyside Christian. "When we would rotate over to help they would find the big guy and dump it down to him for easy layup."

The final quarter saw both teams go back and forth and the Academy couldn't close the gap to put any serious fear into their guests as they would finally fall.

Timofeyev finished with 16 points and five steals, Conner Webb added four points and eight rebounds, and Lowell Kirkwood put in seven points, collected five rebounds, and grabbed two steals for the Lions.

"If this group of young players gets the confidence that they can score we could be a dangerous team come February," Wood said. "I believe they have the heart and desire to  want to win but we just lack the offensive skills."