Strong playoff run ends for Chiefs, take eighth in 4A

TACOMA — If it were a play it would have been a story in two acts.

For the Moses Lake High School girls basketball team, the 2009-2010 season can be best remembered as one team, two seasons, and a memorable finish.

Despite losing to the Edmonds-Woodway Warriors 44-38 on Saturday in the Class 4A State Tournament’s 5th/8th place game, the Chiefs still found a way to cap off their season playing their best basketball during their third straight trip to the Tacoma Dome.

“Our run through the district, regional and state tournaments was a great cap to a season where we struggled to find our way,” Moses Lake coach Matt Strophy said. “Once we did and were able to put things together at the right time we were able to do this. It was extremely pleasing at the state tournament to get a better grasp of our team, be able to watch them mature as a team, and make in game adjustments. At state it was the most rewarding thing to see that all happen.”

What the season can be most remembered for is their tale of two halves.

The first half of the season consisted of their non-league and Big 9 Columbia play. They started off 1-6, finished 10-10 overall and in third place in the Columbia League.

Still, one cause for concern was the team’s inability to beat a team with a .500 record or better.

Then came the post season and the Chiefs (17-14) would go 7-4 overall in district, regional, and state play, go 6-0 in elimination games, and to top it off, they defeated six teams that were above .500.

So in essence, it took Moses Lake 11 games in 24 days for them to accomplish what they did compared to playing 20 games over 90 days where they never quite found their way against the big dogs in the state.

“Our girls really matured over the season,” Strophy said. “Playing 11 games in less than a month is pretty tough.”

Moses Lake won its final elimination game on Friday with a 49-34 win over Newport (21-7) in the consolation bracket semifinals.

The Chiefs broke out with a 14-0 run to start the game and led 21-7 after the game’s first eight minutes.

“I was a little frustrated with the girls since they weren’t ready to leave designated time, we had bill problems at breakfast and so I was a little stressed,” Strophy said. “Then we jump out on them and it was quite surprising. I told the coaches before the game that I didn’t think the girls were ready but I love to be proven wrong.”

Newport finished only 11-for-60 from the field and only two-from-29 from beyond the arc.

“It helped that they missed their shots but we liked our matchups and we were lucky to establish them right-a-way,” Strophy said.

The Chiefs’ offense cooled — scoring 28 points over the last three quarters — but defended well enough and rode the 19 points and 10 rebounds of junior guard Jordan Loera.

Newport could only cut the deficit to 10 points one time, at 6:26 in the fourth quarter, but couldn’t get any closer.

Against Edmonds-Woodway the affects of a long post-season and playing four games in four days at Tacoma began to take their toll.

“In the first quarter Edmonds made five threes from beyond the NBA lines and got a huge lead on us,” Strophy said. “We knew they couldn’t hit those forever and we kind of chipped away. Down the stretch we battled but couldn’t put the ball in the hole. I was pleased with how we kept our composure and we got it down to two but we could not score. I think we just lost our legs.”

Moses Lake trailed by 15 points early in the first half and got the deficit down to two late before falling short against the Warriors.

Senior Tiffany Morris had 14 points to lead the Chiefs while junior Kayla Bernsen added seven points and six rebounds and senior Natalie Diaz had six points and eight rebounds.

Moses Lake will now ready itself in the next few months for preparation toward the 2010-2011 season. They will lose six seniors — Morris, Diaz, Alma Guzman, Lacey Padilla, Megan Sutherland, and Deja Davis — but Strophy believes his program could carry on strong.

“I think we are in great shape,” he said. “Our freshmen team went 19-1, the C team went undefeated, the JV won their last 15 games, and we finished with great momentum. We have a solid group of freshmen coming in so I am looking forward to getting back to it after I take a break. We lose six seniors but we feel we can fill those roles with JV players. June will be about starting to see where we are at.”