Chiefs ready to take what's theirs in playoff

MOSES LAKE — Hopefully momentum gained from a 58-41 whitewashing of visiting Eisenhower on Tuesday will flow over to tonight for the Moses Lake Chiefs girls basketball team.

The Chiefs (11-11) travel to Kennewick to take on Southridge for the third time this season and hope to break through against the Suns (15-7), who won the first two contests against Moses Lake.

“Both of our losses to Southridge were just that, our losses, not their wins,” Moses Lake coach Matt Strophy said. “They are a good team, but we gave them the victories by playing sub-par offensively and having defensive breakdowns at vital points in the game.”

If the Chiefs can right the ship tonight and also continue its hot play from Tuesday’s district playoff win, they could earn a bid to the Regional playoffs beginning next week.

Southridge booked their appointment to this contest by losing to Chiawana 64-53 in the district semifinals on Tuesday.

So if recent history means anything, the Chiefs’ last game could be a good omen.

“We’re ready because we played a great game on Tuesday,” junior Chiefs’ guard Jordan Loera said. “Now that we have a chance to play again we’ll be ready. The first two times we played against Southridge we battled but now everyone has to play the best they can.”

Loera also noted her team’s feistiness against Eisenhower and admitted they played with a lot of toughness and pride.

“When we played Eisenhower the first time (a 53-50 loss in December) we knew we should have won and we spoke about that before the game,” Loera said. “It’s very important we keep that edge and I think we can. It’s mental preparation that will have to be the key the rest of the playoffs.”

Loera is currently the fourth leading scorer in the district playoffs averaging 18 points-per-game in their two contests so far.

It is mental toughness which may carry them to a win tonight considering in both games the Chiefs jumped to solid early leads to see them fizzle away.

“In our first loss at home our four posts combined for only four points, we had 17 turnovers and gave up 14 offensive rebounds for eight points,” Strophy said.  “In our second loss at Southridge our four posts combined for only 11 points, we had 20 turnovers, and gave up 10 offensive rebounds for eight points.  Of course Southridge is responsible for some of that, but we have to take some ownership in the shortcomings that are costing us games against the top league teams.”

Moses Lake lost 48-42 at home and 45-38 in Kennewick.

“This time will be different because of the work the girls have put in to correct those issues,” Strophy said. “They understand what needs to be done.  Now they just need to go out there and get the job done.  I also believe the momentum we established against Eisenhower will carry over throughout the rest of the playoffs.”

Both teams come in with identical 47.5 ppg scoring marks in district play while Southridge is led by Heather Worley and Jamie Lyons who are scoring 15.5 and 14.5 ppg respectively.

“Defensively we must contain their dribble penetration, contest their perimeter shots, communicate with each other, block them out to avoid them getting those crucial second chance points, and no silly fouls that put us in foul trouble,” Strophy said. “Our keys to the game offensively are to take better care of the ball, play under control and execute our offensive sets, play strong and confident inside, and take shots within the rhythm of our offense.  That is all easier said than done. When we put those aspects together, we are a very dangerous team and can compete with anyone.”

The Chiefs would cement a regional spot with a win and play in the 3rd/4th place game against the winner of Richland- Wenatchee at 7 p.m. tomorrow.

A loss would drop Moses Lake into a 7 p.m. contest at the loser of Richland-Wenatchee, also on Saturday, for the fifth and final regional playoff spot.