Chiefs clinch post season bid, beat Ike

MOSES LAKE - A first of many hoped for successful missions under head coach John Hohman appears to have been reached for the Moses Lake Chiefs basketball team.

On Friday night, a strong first half of play ensured the Chiefs an eventual 64-57 win over visiting Eisenhower High School and locked up a spot in the Big 9 district playoffs.

The top six teams from the seven-team Big 9 make it, and with Eisenhower (1-9) having lost both games to Moses Lake (6-10, 3-6), the win ensures the Chiefs of no worse than a tie for sixth. However, with the Chiefs sweeping the series against the Cadets, Moses Lake owns the tiebreaker and are now headed toward the second season.

"As far as the game goes it was a big win for us as far as the playoffs are concerned," Hohman said. "Eisenhower is a well coached team that can beat a number of teams in our league on any given night.  It was nice to see us come out, especially in the first half and be productive."

Moses Lake was in a dog fight after the first quarter, leading 17-13, but then broke the game open with a 19-10 second eight minutes and the built their lead to 36-23 at intermission.

But coming out of the locker room, the visitors from Ike gave it a go at pulling off a rally.

"In the third quarter we came out a little flat," Hohman said. "We weren't controlling the tempo and we weren't patient enough on offense."

The Chiefs got the boat righted and kept the Cadets at bay to finish off the win.

Moses Lake shot 48 percent from the field and held Eisenhower to 42 percent shooting. The Chiefs also shot 74 percent from the free throw line and outrebounded the Cadets 36-24.

Matt Franz led Moses Lake with 18 points, Matt Adame chipped in with 12 points and eight rebounds, and Kyler Moats finished with 10 points, seven assists, and five rebounds.