Moses Lake boys lose to Chiawana

MOSES LAKE - Bryce Perez had 19 points and nine rebounds and Denis Ulyanchuk added 14 points and nine boards,

But it wasn't enough to lead the Chiefs to a win over Chiawana Friday night. The 72-59 loss drops the Moses Lake to 0-1 in league play and 2-4 overall.

The Riverhawks jumped out to a 8-2 lead in the first four minutes of action, but an 12-2 run by Moses Lake capped off by eight points by Perez, put the Chiefs up 14-10 at the end of the opening quarter of play. Moses Lake picked up where the team left off in the second quarter of action as Cliff Phillips hit the first bucket to kick start another spurt for the home team as the Chiefs pulled were rolling, 22-12.

Chiawana's Brandon Mendoza hit a bucket to get the Riverhawks within single digits, 24-14 but Triono Rubio drained a shot from beyond the arch to increase Moses Lake's lead to 25-14.

The Chiefs looked to be in control of the game, but a 13-3 run by Chiawana, capped off by a 3-point bucket at the buzzer by Miquiyah Zamora got the Riverhawks within one point, 28-27 at the half.

Chiawana had the first possession of the third quarter and made good use of it as Mendoza drilled a 3-pointer from deep in the corner of the court to put the visitors up 30-28, giving the Riverhawks their first lead since the opening minutes of the game. Perez hit a bucket for Moses Lake to tie the score 30-30 the next trip down court. A three point basket by Chiawana's Enrique Perez and a fast break lay up by Caleb Knight put the Riverhawks up 35-30.

But a basket by Kevin Bennett and back-to-back buckets by Perez tied the game again 35-35 with four and a half minutes left in the quarter. Both teams exchanged baskets and leads several times down the stretch until Bennett hit a 3-point shot at the buzzer to give Moses Lake a 50-49 tally.

Things came unraveled fro Moses Lake in the fourth quarter of play as  the Chiefs cooled off from the floor and the charity stripe, managing just nine points to the Riverhawks 23.

The Chiefs hit the road Saturday to take on Walla Walla, but the results were not available at press time.