Tougher Lady Lions roll as Lady Eagles play on
Alan Dale/Columbia Basin Herald<br> Soap Lake freshman Irina Turchik, seen here against Bridgeport in January, and her Lady Eagles teammates played Kittitas last night despite the absence of coach Bill Sarver.
Moses Lake Christian Academy 49, Cascade Christian 26; ACH 59, Sprague-Harrington 24; Wilson Creek 76, Easton 44; Kittitas 71, Soap Lake 22
WENATCHEE — After a series of tough, physical encounters, the Moses Lake Christian Academy Lady Lions decided Tuesday night to stop being the students and instead became the teachers.
Class was in session in Wenatchee as the Lady Lions brought their ‘A’ game and enough discipline to put away host Cascade Christian 49-26 in 1B North Central Washington play.
Following two rough, close but bruising losses last week to Sunnyside Christian and Pateros it was time for the Academy to apply the lessons learned.
“Playing those caliber of teams gives your team a different perspective on how you approach the game,” Lady Lions coach Bryce McPartland said. “Tonight the roles were reversed and we were one of those teams playing against Cascade Christian and doing to them what had been done to us.”
What the Lady Lions (10-6, 5-4) applied was a more physical and confident approach against a team they beat earlier this season and were expected to do so again.
“Those games we lost are good for us to have,” the Academy’s Melissa Verhage said. “We would play bad and win and we just tend to play down instead of play our game. But not tonight.”
The Lady Lions broke out to a 14-6 lead at the end of the first quarter and built the cushion to 27-13 by halftime.
From that point on the Academy were able to methodically put Cascade Christian in their rearview mirror and collect the win,
Rachel Verhage scored 18 points and collected 11 rebounds to lead the Lady Lions.
“I think it helped that we played some really physical teams and Cascade Christian isn’t at the level in terms of physicality,” McPartland said. “Rachel was able to respond really well to the competition she played against tonight.”
Susan Timofeyev added 10 points and three steals and Madison Yamane added eight points.
“You got to feel good about a road win in particular at Cascade Christian since it’s a tough place to play,” McPartland said. “It’s definitely an interesting place to play. It was a weeknight game and the crowd was late arriving and it was a subdued atmosphere. There wasn’t much energy in the gym.”
There will be plenty of energy the next few days on the schedule as the Lady Lions ready for post season play.
If their ability to take lessons learns continues to grow McPartland could watch his young team dish out a few more courses in winning.
“We played pretty tough in those losses,” McPartland said. “So to come back the way we did was quite impressive.”
ACH 59, Sprague-Harrington 24
COULEE CITY — An early 10-point lead was enough for Almira/Coulee-Hartline to paint a 59-24 win over visiting Sprague-Harrington on Tuesday night.
The Lady Warriors (16-3) followed up the solid start with a defensive shut down of Sprague-Harrington in the next eight minutes where ACH played it to an 8-0 performance.
ACH blew open the 18-point halftime lead with a 16-4 third quarter and the Lady Warriors moved closer to sealing the 1B Bi-County title.
“It was a pretty well balanced game,” ACH coach Ben Addink said. “It was a nice game to rebound after our loss at Colfax and to get a good win.”
Madeline Isaak led the Lady Warriors with 13 points, Sarah Gloyn added 11 points, and Allison Fox popped in eight points.”
“We have a lot of work to do to put ourselves in position to have some success against some of the premiere teams at our districts and hopefully down the road at state,” Addink said. “We still have our work cut out for us but it was a good win for us.”
Wilson Creek 76, Easton 44
EASTON — Wilson Creek’s Lady Devils continued their heavenly season with a solid 76-44 win at Easton last night.
After a slow start where Wilson Creek led 21-14 at the end of the first quarter, coach Dennis Treat’s squad rolled to a 44-25 halftime lead they would hold on tight to the finish line.
Ksenja Fredere dominated the stat sheet for Wilson Creek with 24 points, 12 steals, 10 rebounds, and eight assists.
“She’s our point guard and just very aggressive defensively by doing a great job anticipating,” Treat said. “She’s going to be very important for post season and we count on her for our ball handling and our leadership. She does a good job. She’s really picked it up the last few games.
Kali Winfrey (12 points, 11 rebounds), Brynna Stevens (10 points, 11 rebounds), and Holly Wilson (12 points, eight rebounds) all pitched in with solid efforts for the Lady Devils (10-5, 10-2) who still have a shot at the top spot in the 1B North Central Washington league if they can beat leaders Pateros on Tuesday and the Nannies drop one more of their last contests.
“The way it appears now we’ll finish in second place,” Treat said. “It’s been the same as it has been all season. Our team has to stay out there hustling and aggressive on defense. That’s our game. I wouldn’t call it a pretty basketball game. We just show hustle and aggressiveness and when we do we have a pretty good chance.”
Kittitas 71, Soap Lake 22
SOAP LAKE — Playing without head coach Bill Sarver, who missed the game due to illness in the family, the Soap Lake Lady Eagles struggled to get anything going in a tough 71-22 loss to visiting Kittitas on Tuesday night.
Freshman Irina Turchik led Soap Lake (2-14) with seven points.
Soap Lake boys head coach Bill Pierce took charge of the young ladies in place of the absent Sarver.
“I thought they did the best they could considering everything,” Pierce said. “Kittitas is a good ball club and they shoot the ball really well. I just think our girls would have played better without the distractions.”
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