Journey for Chiefs' fourth state trip begins Friday

MOSES LAKE - Three grand years of basketball has made this current era a golden one for the Moses Lake Chiefs girls basketball team.

Starting with the 2008 Class 4A basketball finals, the Chiefs began their run which now stands at three consecutive appearances at the state's final stop - Tacoma - with the hope of winning a title.

The one constant in that run has been senior guard Jordan Loera who now has a different, but just as dangerous cast of teammates around her as the Chiefs begin their newest playoff run tomorrow night at MLHS' Maroon Gym with a 7 p.m. Big 9 district playoff loser out game against Davis High School.

The Chiefs (15-5) won both games between themselves and Davis, 70-32 at home back in January and 61-48 in Yakima earlier last week.

"Davis is getting better and better every time they step on the floor," Moses Lake head coach Matt Strophy said. "They get after the things they can control - dive for loose balls, physical block out, etc.  Coach Quantae Anderson is getting more and more familiar with our league, so he is able to adjust to the differences of the different teams he faces."

One key in both wins over Davis was the Chiefs' ability to control the boards as they outrebounded the Pirates 55-22 and 44-36 in both contests.

Yet, the have found ways to close the gap from one game to the next and this could promise to make tomorrow's encounter a little tougher than the Pirates' first visit to Moses Lake.

"Davis also has more basketball talent, so the players can make those adjustments and continue to get better and smarter the more they play an opponent," Strophy said. "Their weakness is still their youthful inexperience.  We cannot afford to overlook this opponent or start slowly like last time.  We have to jump on them right from the opening tip and look to demoralize them.  This is the playoffs now, so we can't take anything for granted."

Loera scored 40 points in the two games with Davis while fellow senior Kayla Bernsen scored 18 points in both outings. Sophomore super sub, Kyleigh Gamez averaged 11.5 ppg.

A win would guarantee the Chiefs at least two more games, with their next one being at Richland on Saturday at 7 p.m. A victory over the host Bombers would be their first of the season after dropping 52-42 and 57-54 decisions.

"In both games, our offense struggled," Strophy said. "Some credit goes to Richland's defense, but a majority falls on our own shoulders.  We can't shoot 11-31 from the free throw line.  If we shoot 70% from the line, we win both games.  If we make half of the layins we missed, we win both games.  We have the ability to beat Richland , but we have to go out and prove it."

Despite ending their regular season slate with the three-point loss to Richland on Saturday at Big Bend CC and giving the Bombers the home court advantage in the potential district semifinal, Strophy likes where his team is for the most part.

"Our team is playing well right now," Strophy said. "Of course, there are always things that need to be worked on, but we ended the regular season winning four in a row before losing our finale to Richland. There we still played a great game with the exception of layins and free throws.  We got the things we wanted on offense, we just couldn't convert.  I am pleased with the work ethic of our team at this point in the season.  They know what to do and how to do it they just need go out there and get it done."

What also needs to get done is the team getting contributions from more than Loera and Bernsen out of the starting five and additional bench scoring from other than just Gamez.

The Chiefs bench averages 17 points a game with Gamez scoring nearly 10 of those points per contest. Loera and Bernsen score 32.4 ppg of the team's approximate 58 points per outing.

So if their offense can't get that extra kick, their defense will have to carry the day.

"Our team can go far if they take advantage of the opportunities the other team gives them," Strophy said. "If we believe and follow the game plan, and trust in each other, we have the talent and experience to get us back to the Tacoma Dome.  The other teams are not going to roll over for us though.  Every team we play would love nothing more than to send Moses Lake home from the playoffs.  We have to go our there and play against everyone's best effort.  Nothing will come easy, but if we execute, we can do it."

Chiawana is the top-seed in the district playoffs. Only one team is assured of a spot in the super regionals that will take place in two weeks.

The second seed from the Big 9 will have a one game playoff against the number two seed from the Greater Spokane League for a bid to the Super Regional.

MOSES LAKE CHIEFS:

Starters: Jordan Loera (senior, 18.8 points, 7.2 rebounds, 5.6 assists, 5.2 steals), Kayla Bernsen (senior, 13.6 ppg, 10.3 rpg, 2.0 blocks per game. 1.4 apg), Magie Munoz (senior, 4.4 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 1.4 spg), Courtney Kunjara (sophomore, 2.7 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 2.2 apg, 1.3 spg), and Tasha Gentry (senior, 1.7 ppg. 1.1 rpg).

Substitutes: Kyleigh Gamez (sophomore, 9.8 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 1.6 apg, 1.5 spg), Sadie Nielsen (sophomore, 3.1 ppg, 3.5 rpg), Kristi Brown (junior, 1.7 ppg, 1.2 rpg), Emily Olson (freshman, 1.3 ppg, 1.6 rpg), Felicia Sanders (senior, 2.1 ppg), Keiley Garcia (sophomore, up from JV), Madison Wilks (junior, up from JV).