Holiday tourney sees Lions stomp to final

MOSES LAKE - It is called the Moses Lake Christian Academy

Christmas Tournament.

On Monday night the host Lions basketball team decided to put

their stomp on it.

To many in attendance, saying simply they put their put their

'stamp' on it would not have done this performance justice.

MOSES LAKE - It is called the Moses Lake Christian Academy Christmas Tournament.

On Monday night the host Lions basketball team decided to put their stomp on it.

To many in attendance, saying simply they put their put their 'stamp' on it would not have done this performance justice.

The Lions proved as much as they rolled to a 63-13 win over Bridgeport to advance to the title game scheduled for tonight at 7:30 p.m.

There they play the Tri Cities Prep Jaguars in a rematch of the 2009 Class 1B state title game the Lions lost in Yakima.

"Because it was Christmas break I wanted us to come out and just play solid," Lions head coach Duke Wood said. "I was surprised we played as well as we did since we took most of the last week off. Maybe the rest did the boys some good in the long run. They had a lot of energy."

Energy the Lions had galore as they shot out of the gate and ran out to a 10-0 lead in the game's opening minutes and used the momentum to open up an impressive 25-4 edge at the end of the game's first quarter.

However, as the Academy (6-2) is known to do this season, they sputtered a bit, but still did not surrender their cushion as they kept a 29-9 lead heading into the break following a sloppy second quarter.

"We talked about that and even at halftime we spoke about our first quarter compared to our second and discussed the let down and why we had one," Wood said. "The captains spoke and said that when they get big leads like that it's tough to keep their intensity up. So, we set the goal of a 10-0 or 10-2 run to start the third and let it continue to roll and not let up.

"I guess the boys made a statement for themselves."

That would be easy for Wood to say as the Lions stormed out to a 13-2 surge coming out of the locker room and rout was officially on.

Moses Lake Christian Academy led 51-13 going into the fourth quarter and didn't surrender a point the rest of the way.

"Our defense was very active even playing in the 2-3 zone and we usually don't play zone," Wood said. "The players are buying into it and understanding it more. Still, man-to-man is what we live and die by. The boys played zone with the same aggressiveness that you need in a man."

They also dominated the boards to the tune of a 39-19 trump card in their win.

"We had a little bit of a size advantage, we had a ton of energy and so we busted our tails," Wood said. "We knew we couldn't give them any second shots because Bridgeport is very scrappy and that's how they play."

Lions junior Joe Timofeyev scored 20 points and dished out three assists while classmate Conner Webb wrapped up a complete game of 14 points, nine steals, and seven rebounds.

Nick Laszlo chipped in with five points and nine rebounds and Thomas Knopp, who was under the weather, added four points and seven rebounds.

The Academy forced 27 turnovers and shot 62 percent from the field.

Wood knows that some of those numbers may chance tonight in their game against Tri Cities Prep, but hopes they stay on task which is to reclaim their own tournament title.

"There are a kids that were there in 2009 and they still have that memory," Wood said. "I expect a tough matchup. They are big and like to pound the ball in. Their two posts work well together so we will definitely have to rebound."