MLCA girls capture Christmas tourney

MOSES LAKE -  Moses Lake Christian Academy (MLCA) Lady Lions pulled out an exciting 37-36 win over Tri-Cities Prep last night on the Lions home court. The victory runs the team record to 8-0 in the Central Washington 1B Conference.

"This is our third consecutive Christmas tourney championship," coach Bryce McPartland said. "This always mean a lot to the team because before our first win three years ago, the girls had never won their own tournament. It's great to see our new, young players continue to build on that."

MLCA jumped out to a 14-6 lead at the end of the first quarter of action, but the Jaguars came storming back with a 13-5 run in the second to tie the game 19-19 at the half.

The Lady Lions found themselves in a real barn burner as Tri-Cities Prep led 27-25 at the end of the third quarter of play.

Down by five points with a little less than four minute to play, it was gut check time for MLCA. The team responded and fought back to take a 37-36 lead with 30 seconds left in the contest.

The Jaguars had a chance to knock off the Lions, but a 3-point desperation shot by Alejandra Cuevas bounced off the back of the rim at the buzzer.

McKenna Walker had 17 points and 16 rebounds, and Madison Yamane added 15 points and five boards to lead the way for MLCA.

"McKenna ended up with a monster game and hit some key buckets down the stretch," McPartland said. "But Madison did a great job holding the team together for long stretches of time when the game could've gotten out of hand and away from us."

The come-from behind win, McPartland said, was very satisfying for him and the team.

"We turned the tables against a much bigger, much older team out rebounding them 37-23, including 20 on the offensive end," he said. "To fight back when the chips were down is very rewarding and I'm very proud of all of them."