Chiefs lose to Davis, beat Sunnyside

YAKIMA - Moses Lake hit the pavement Friday hoping to pick up a road win against the Pirates and keep their undefeated record in the Columbia Basin Big Nine Conference in tact. But the Chiefs were denied a win as they dropped a hard fought contest, 63-54 to the Cadets.

"Unfortunately, we dug ourselves a difficult hole to get out of as we trailed by 19 at the half," coach Matt Strophy said."We were playing a bit too aggressive and turned the ball over too many times."

The first quarter of action saw Davis take a 14-13 lead. A 24-6 second quarter doubled the Pirates tally 38-19 at intermission. Moses Lake outscored Davis 35-25 in the second half of play, but it wasn't enough to over come the 19-point first half deficit.

"We tried to make some adjustments at halftime, but it took us a while to figure it out," Strophy said. "But they hit some 3-point shot in the mean time. We were able to cut their lead to five points, and then had to foul to conserve time, but they were able to make their free throws and pulled out the win."

Despite the loss, Strophy said he was pleased with the Chiefs overall effort.

"I was," he said. "I feel we have the talent to beat them if we play within our game plan. But we need to be consistent for all four quarters of the game."

Avery Clark led the Chiefs offensive output with 12 points. McKenna Walker added 11, Jessie Loera had 9 points, Carina LeFave tallied 7, Kaitlyn Stevens scored 6, and Emily Olson finished with 5 in the loss.

Moses Lake 70

Sunnyside 64

The Chief rebounded from the loss against the Pirates with a 70-64 win at home over Sunnyside Saturday.

The game was really never in doubt as Moses Lake jumped out to 23-8 lead at the end of the first eight minutes of play and led 41-19 at the half. But a 45-19 run by the Grizzlies in the second half of action got Sunnyside within six to give the visitors hope.

"We started out great against Sunnyside ... made some good decisions ... but also made some fundamental mistakes and shot poorly from the free throw line in the fourth quarter," Strophy said. 'They were able to capitalize on our miscues ... made some runs and you have to give them credit for doing so."

Inability to contain the Grizzlies penetration late in the contest, Strophy said, allowed Sunnyside to make a game of it.

"I think the girls were a bit fatigued after the late return from the Davis game," he said. "But I am happy being 3-1 in league play. I think we have the best talent top to bottom in the league and if we can develop a killer instinct we're going to be tough to beat."

Olson was high scorer for Moses Lake with 12 points, Sadie Nielson added 11, Clark and Loera pumped in 9 each, Walker and Koon tallied 8 each and Courtney Kunjara and Keiley Garcia finished with 5.

The Chiefs are back on the hardwood Dec. 18 when they host nonleague game with Battleground at 4 p.m. Moses Lake will host another nonleague with Pasco Dec. 28 at 3:30, before getting back to league action Jan. 4 when the team hits the road to take on Eisenhower.