Nine-game Chiefs winning streak ends
RICHLAND - A nine-game winning streak and unbeaten start to Big
9 play came to a halt Saturday night for the Moses Lake Chiefs on
Saturday night.
Behind a strong defensive effort, the host Richland Bombers held
the Chiefs to almost 20 points below their season scoring average
and used a big second half to beat Moses Lake 52-42.
Richland 52, MOSES LAKE 42
RICHLAND - A nine-game winning streak and unbeaten start to Big 9 play came to a halt Saturday night for the Moses Lake Chiefs on Saturday night.
Behind a strong defensive effort, the host Richland Bombers held the Chiefs to almost 20 points below their season scoring average and used a big second half to beat Moses Lake 52-42.
Richland led 22-21 at halftime.
"They were a lot more active than they looked like on two films we had," Moses Lake head coach Matt Strophy said. " On offense they had a lot more movement and were more active. That forced us to have to play better defense. Overall it wasn't bad but still they hit nine threes and that is their bread-and-butter."
Strophy indicated the overall defense was solid but they gave up key plays at inopportune times.
But then again the offense needed to reward the defense and did not on numerous occasion.
"Richland could get back in time and their transition defense was the best we've seen all year," Strophy said. "They were back so quickly that we couldn't get anything out of a quick offense. It was a frustrating offensive night for us."
Moses Lake (11-3, 5-1) would be outscored 13-9 in the third quarter as the team struggled to get any pivotal scoring from anyone other than Jordan Loera or Kayla Bernsen.
Four players total scored for the Chiefs, led by Loera's 16 points and Bernsen's 15 points.
"We need our non-marquee players to step up and play varsity level basketball at all times," Strophy said. "If we can get our other six players to give us four to eight points each that would be great."
Loera also finished with 10 rebounds for the Chiefs who outrebounded the Bombers 44-26 while committing 19 turnovers.
Richland put the game away with a 17-12 fourth quarter as the Moses Lake ended the night shooting only 7-for-17 from the free throw line.
The previous evening, the Chiefs held off hosts Wenatchee 42-38 to take the decision over their rivals.
Loera scored 18 points and nabbed eight steals to help her team stave off the upset bid by the host Panthers.
"She's always that big for us," Strophy said. "We had a 14-point lead and playing well. Then they hit some timely baskets and made it closer than it was. She was definitely the closer for us."
Moses Lake led 37-27 at the end of the third quarter before Wenatchee made a valiant comeback attempt that fell short.
The Chiefs led 13-12 after the first quarter before opening up the second eight minutes on an 11-1 run and they would ultimately lead 27-17 at halftime.
Bernsen added 13 points for the Chiefs.
"We need to work on ball movement and attacking the zone since we had problems with it this weekend," Strophy said. "We have to focus on the little things that make that happen. In a quick game we haven't been able to attack effectively and it's also a matter of just doing it."
MOSES LAKE CHRISTIAN ACADEMY 73, Thorp 10
THORP - Their coach wanted a big start and the Moses Lake Christian Academy Lady Lions delivered.
Behind a massive 32-3 run in the game's first quarter, the Lady Lions cruised to a 73-10 North Central Washington 1B contest Friday night to stay atop the league with a 4-0 record.
"The girls did a great job getting out of the gates quickly," Lady Lions head coach Bryce McPartland said. "Thorp really struggled to get the ball across half court early on and that was due in large part to the girls' defensive effort."
Things slowed down in the second quarter as the Academy (10-2, 4-0) only outscored their hosts 6-2.
"We were able to get all of our girls tons of playing time tonight," McPartland said. "The younger ones may have been a little surprised at how quickly they got in. Defensively they did great, but offensively, obviously, we didn't get it done."
A 21-2 third quarter put a lid on the contest as the Academy led 59-7 heading into the final period.
Senior Kristina Firouzi led the Lady Lions with 19 points, her best outing of the season after battling a knee ailment.
Kristina looks like she's back to nearly 100 percent," McPartland said. "She's really fought back hard to make the most of her senior year, and I was really pleased with her floor leadership tonight."
Melissa Verhage added 16 points and McKenna Walker and Rachel Verhage each scored 15 points for the Lady Lions as the four players all outscored the entire Thorp team, individually.
The Academy shot 47 percent from the field and forced 35 turnovers.
"Our team is really coming together," McPartland said. "It is most obvious in our ball movement. The last two games the girls have been very patient and attacked gaps in opposing defenses very well.
Valley Christian 39, WILSON CREEK 24
SPOKANE VALLEY - A difficult third quarter led to a non-league loss for the Wilson Creek Lady Devils on Friday night.
Trailing 23-15 at halftime, the Lady Devils took a 13-1 beating in the eight minutes following intermission and the host Valley Christian squad would hold on for a 39-24 win.
Holly Wilson led Wilson Creek (3-8) with 15 points.
Information on the Lady Devils' North Central Washington 1B league contest at Mansfield was not available at press time.
QUINCY 45, OTHELLO 43
OTHELLO - Leading by five points at halftime the Othello Lady Huskies appeared closer to their first win of the season.
But the visiting Quincy Lady Jacks decided to turn up the intensity and with that they rallied late and stole a 45-43 win on Friday night in Central Washington Athletic Conference (CWAC) action.
Quincy (3-11, 3-9) outscored Othello (0-13. 0-11) 14-9 in the fourth quarter and were led by Desi Durfee's 17 points and Cassidee Davis' 14 points.
Christine Kirkwood finished the night with 21 points and 19 rebounds for the Lady Huskies.
Both teams dropped their next game the following evening.
Othello's late rally fell just short as they dropped a 36-33 decision to CWAC heavies East Valley.
The Lady Huskies trailed 31-21 going into the fourth quarter before making a last gasp push for the upset.
Kirkwood scored 10 points and grabbed 13 rebounds while Joanna Quezada pitched in with 10 points for Othello.
Grandview escaped Quincy 51-47 visitors on Saturday.
The host Lady Jacks were led by Durfee's 20 points and Davis' nine points and 11 rebounds.
Wapato 52, EPHRATA 48
EPHRATA - A good chance to sweep their weekend slate and move closer to a top three spot in the CWAC came and went for the Ephrata Lady Tigers.
On Saturday, Ephrata dropped a heartbreaking 52-48 decision against Wapato after leading by one point at halftime.
"We played well defensively and rebounding," Ephrata head coach Aaron Ross said. "We just had trouble finishing down the stretch."
Ephrata (8-6, 6-6) was led by Kendra DeHoog's 13 points, while Kelsey Yenney finished with 11 points.
Yenney scored 21 points a night earlier to help her team to a 52-47 win at Toppenish.
Abby Smith added 10 points to help Ephrata overcome a 12-6 first quarter deficit.
The Lady Tigers outscored the host Wildcats 21-5 in the second quarter to lead by 10 at halftime.
Columbia-Burbank 55, ROYAL 20
BURBANK - Royal's struggles continued with a 55-20 loss at Columbia-Burbank on Saturday night.
The visiting Lady Knights (1-11, 0-6) fell behind big early and could never rally in their South Central Athletic Conference (SCAC) East contest.
Royal was led by Stef Guadarrama and Terin Gonzales, with each scoring six points apiece.
The previous evening, Royal lost 46-17 at home against River View.
Guadarrama again led the Lady Knights with a team-high six points.
Riverside Christian 52, WARDEN 32
YAKIMA - Travelling to take on one of the better teams in the Central Washington South 2B turned out to be a trip to forget for the Warden Lady Cougars.
On Saturday night, Warden hung tough in the first half of their encounter against Riverside Christian before the hosts slowly pulled away for a 52-32 win.
Warden (4-7, 1-3) trailed 22-14 at halftime before a 12-4 third quarter doubled their deficit and made their attempt to rally that much more difficult.
The Lady Cougars were led by Iris Rodriguez who scored 10 points.
White Swan 79, SOAP LAKE 17
SOAP LAKE - The host Soap Lake Lady Eagles remain winless on the season following 79-17 home loss to White Swan on Saturday night.
White Swan, one of the top contenders for the Central Washington South 2B title, led 27-1 after the first quarter and 48-9 by halftime to record the victory.
Soap Lake (0-11, 0-5) was led by Diana Shytba's eight points.
The previous evening, Soap Lake fell 52-12 at Kittitas.
Irina Turchik led the Lady Eagles with eight points.