Lions finish sixth in 1B

YAKIMA — They gave so much and shed the tears only minutes later which told the whole story.

Moses Lake Christian Academy’s Lions basketball team fell 44-41 in the Class 1B semifinals against St. John-Endicott (SJE) on Friday night and wrapped up their season with a 72-52 loss to Wellpinit Saturday to finish sixth in the state.

“It was a roller coaster year and it was an awesome year but we went through some tough times,” Academy coach Duke Wood said. “When we lost Stefan McNamara (for five weeks) it gave us a chance to play more kids and when we got him back it just brought us closer together. When we won districts against Pateros it lit a huge spark under these kids and it led to an unbelievable state tournament by this group. They were overachievers.”

But it was the semifinal loss which will leave the most questions.

The Lions saw a lead lost and a chance to at least win or tie at the end of regulation made more difficult due to a dubious officiating call.

Warren Miller of SJE grabbed an offensive rebound off an Eagle miss and fell onto the floor and a whistle blew.

Wood and many in attendance believed it would be a travelling violation on the Eagles and the Lions would have the ball down 43-41 with four seconds left.

Instead, after a conference, the officials awarded SJE a timeout which their coach called after Miller hit the ground.

“I don’t agree with the call and now there’s a what if factor,” Wood said. “You don’t know what would have happened and I still think to this day it was a bad call. It was not why we lost but it was a crucial call at that time since it would have given us one shot and that’s all we needed. One of the refs told me later, ‘it is what it is.’”

The Lions (19-7) and their skin-peeling defense was up to its old tricks again harassing a larger, longer Eagles team to take a 16-14 lead after one quarter and a 27-24 halftime edge.

“I actually thought it was our best offensive performance at state,” Wood said. “We were running our offense and doing what we needed to do on defense. We were in good shape.”

Then their defense continued to turn the screws as they outscored the Eagles 5-2 to start the half and took a 32-26 lead on a Joe Timofeyev free throw with 5:22 left in the third quarter.

“I was feeling good but not relaxed,” Wood said. “But I would not have predicted what would happen offensively after that.”

With things going smoothly the Lions’ old nemesis — offensive struggles — returned to the party.

The Academy would not score again until the 4:56 mark of the fourth quarter on a Timofeyev basket to break a string of nine scoreless minutes.

Yet, they still only trailed 35-34.

“That’s what we counted on all year, our defense,” Wood said. “If we could just score we’d be all right but we hit these slumps. We were fortunate to be down one going that long without a point. Not scoring and still playing defense like that…who wants to play defense like that when you aren’t scoring?”

The Eagles bumped their lead back up to 40-35 with :34 seconds left until Timofeyev’s two free throws made it 40-37 with :25 seconds left.

SJE’s struggles at the free throw line helped the Lions’ comeback cause.

Timofeyev’s layup with :16 left cut it to 41-39.

The Eagles bumped their lead back up to 43-39 but saw it chopped in half on a McNamara lay-up with five seconds left setting up the late dramatics.

Trailing 44-41 with just over a second left after the time out was rewarded and subsequent Eagles’ free throw, Timofeyev’s three-point to tie went off the mark and the Lions’ title run was ended.

“I felt sadness,” Wood said. “It was mostly for the boys since they played hard enough to win the game. Being three points from a state title game? These boys were crushed.”

Almira/Coulee-Hartline coach Scott Isaak was watching the final events unfold and could only compliment Wood’s composed reaction.

“Duke Wood is what the Academy needed to make them proud,” Isaak said. “He is a classy guy and they play hard. They have an engine with a lot of class and he has the heart to do what’s right. They do a great job over there.”

Timofeyev finished with 15 points and McNamara pitched in with 13 points and seven rebounds.

Following their season ending loss to second-ranked Wellpinit, Wood said it wouldn’t detract from the months he spent with his team.

“Even though we lost it was a great way to end it,” Wood. “We left it all on the court and that’s all I could ever ask for.”