Moses Lake stays alive in trophy hunt

TACOMA — Upping their post-season record to 5-0 in elimination games. the Moses Lake Chiefs cruised to a 71-52 loser-out consolation quarterfinal victory over Marysville-Pilchuck at the Class 4A state girls basketball tournament yesterday.

Moses Lake (16-13) now have a chance to win two-straight games following an opening loss in their third-straight tournament when they battle Newport (20-6) at 12:30 p.m. today.

In their district and regional openers the Chiefs lost their openers as well before rallying to qualify for the next round out of both tournaments.

“It’s a little frustrating to deal with but at the same time it makes for exciting basketball,” Moses Lake coach Matt Strophy said. “We are getting used to the back-against-the-wall scenario. We feel comfortable and lose one then go, ‘oh we don’t want to go home,’ and we respond better.”

A win over Newport, 48-33 winners over Puyallup, would put Moses Lake into the 5th/8th place game tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. against either regional rivals Lewis and Clark or Edmonds-Woodway.

“That would just be an unbelievable cap to our season,” Strophy said. “You can’t put much more whip cream on the sundae of a season we’ve been having but we could add a cherry or two.”

What Moses Lake had to overcome was M-P’s (17-8) three-point shooting ability which was apparent throughout the first half as they hit five to stay within striking range.

But the Chiefs did their fair share of hitting treys with junior Jordan Loera nailing three and senior Lacey Padilla’s one which opened the Moses Lake scoring in the opening minute.

“We were able to establish things on the inside but we were able to get our perimeter game stepped up,” Strophy said. “It’s huge to get a three for a two even if you don’t have momentum and that’s a powerful weapon.”

Moses Lake led 13-10 at the end of the first quarter but built it to a 36-29 halftime margin as their offense kept clicking and the Chiefs were able to go on a 9-0 run late to breakaway from a 25-25 tie.

Loera hit two three-pointers, Tiffany Morris hit two free throws, and Megan Sutherland added one free throw during the run.

“That’s why I love the post-season experience,” Strophy said. “Those three girls benefitted by being on the state team last year and the confidence from that is huge. I don’t think we’ve ever been rattled when we are down. That run determined the game.”

In the third quarter the teams battled back and fourth before Chief junior, 6-3 post Kayla Bernsen picked up her fourth foul with 4:06 left and the Tomahawks within five, 41-36.

But Loera responded with a bank shot at 3:05, Natalie Diaz then scored a basket on a follow of her own missed free throw and Sutherland hit a three-pointer to bump Moses Lake up to its biggest lead, 49-36, going into the final quarter.

“It’s a game of runs,” Strophy said. “Their mental toughness and maturity has really shown through adversity.”

In the fourth quarter the Chiefs kept the Tomahawks at bay with clutch free throw shooting, scoring 16 of their 22 points at the line.

“We shot 75 percent for the game from the line,” Strophy said. “That’s huge to convert from the line and we had a couple big layins. There was some pretty big stuff there getting the job done.”

Loera finished with 24 points, Sutherland added 12 points, which included a nine-for-10 free throw shooting performance, Padilla added eight points, and Tiffany Morris finished with seven.

Now they look to continue on following their 65-55 opening round loss to Bellarmine Prep with another do-or-die victory this afternoon.

“Fun stuff, that’s what we are here for,” Strophy said. “They might not remember the scores or who they played but they will remember the experience.”