No hangover from epic win, Chiefs roll on

WALLA WALLA - Playing on the road 24 hours after an emotional victory over a fellow juggernaut is not an easy task.

Add in a two-plus hour bus ride in inclement weather to play at a school with a history of being a difficult place to play and some would say the Moses Lake Chiefs girls basketball team was ripe for the picking at Walla Walla on Saturday night.

But the only picking performed for 90 minutes was done by the Chiefs, who picked apart their hosts in a 67-43 rout, for a sweet encore to their 61-60 comeback win over Chiawana the previous evening.

"It most definitely takes some character to do what we did," Moses Lake head coach Matt Strophy said. "It was our focus with the girls at shootaround that with the emotional high we had Friday night we couldn't have a let down. Even after the third quarter we had a 15-point lead and we pointed out that Chiawana had a 14-point lead and we came back.

"But we had no emotional letdown and we showed the championship quality to come out and play the way we did. The way we closed tells me they have a lot of focus, determination, and desire."

It wasn't just how well Moses Lake (5-2, 2-0) closed but also how they shut the door on Walla Walla when things might have gotten interesting.

The Chiefs came out strong leading 19-8 after the first quarter and 36-19 by halftime.

Still, Walla Walla was able to do a few things that made Strophy concerned for his club.

"They did really well inside on us and exploited a weakness we have," Strophy said. "They only scored 43 points so I can't complain too much, but it was frustrating to not get enough ball pressure on their high-low game and take that away."

Walla Walla cut the gap to 47-32 after the third quarter but instead of letting up, the Chiefs flexed their muscles with a 20-11 flourish and the rout was official.

Jordan Loera scored 20 points and added eight assists, seven rebounds, and five steals for Moses Lake, while Kayla Bernsen and Magie Munoz each had games of 11 points and five rebounds.

Kyleigh Gamez added 10 points for the Chiefs.

"Going down there to Walla Walla where they are tough and they exploit that weakness and we still win by 20-plus points is really good for us," Strophy said. "We now have time to work on that before we play teams like Wenatchee who could do the same against us."