Moses Lake beats Walla Walla

Chiefs 64

Blue Devils 48

MOSES LAKE -Five players scored in double figures to lead Moses Lake to a 64-48 win over Walla Walla at home Saturday.

Bryce Perez led the way for the Chiefs with 14 points. Cliff Phillips, Kevin Bennett, Jordan Garcia and Josh Hirz all finished with 11 in the winning effort.

"This was a huge win for us," coach John Hohman said. "It was especially nice to finally get balanced scoring out of our guys."

It was a rare afternoon game as Mother Nature's influence on blistery winter conditions forced a 4 p.m. start.

The Blue Devils controlled the tip and had a chance to take the lead but Walla Walla's Tannor Cranor missed two shots from the free throw line to begin the contest.

A foul shot by Bryce Perez and a 3-point basket by Josh Hirz sparked a 7-0 run by Moses Lake, capped off by a bucket by Denis Ulyanchuk. But the Blue Devils answered back with five consecutive points to close the gap to 7-5.

Baskets by Phillips and Perez pushed the score to 13-9. Kevin Bennett hit a 3-point shot with three minutes left in the first quarter, and Perez added another two points as the Chiefs doubled Walla Walla 18-9. The Blue Devils closed within six, but two free throws by Jordan Garcia pushed the lead to 20-12 as the first eight minutes of play came to an end.

"We struggled  bit at the start of the game," Hohman said. "We missed a lot of shots from inside the paint, but they eventually started falling."

Down but not discouraged, Walla Walla got right back in the action with two baskets by Moe Handcox, one from behind the arc, and a free throw to trail 20-18.

The Blue Devils took their first lead of the game, 21-20, with five minutes left in the half on another 3-point bomb by Handcox.

The teams traded baskets over the next two and a half minutes with the score favoring the home team, 29-26.  Bennett's second 3-pointer of the game and a basket by Garcia ended the first half scoring as the Chiefs went to the locker room up 34-28.

"I told the guys during the break we needed to make some adjustments on defense and offensively we needed to rebound better and get more interior looks," Hohman said. "I also told them we needed to finish out and that's what they did and it was a big step forward for us."

Hirz hit the first bucket and Phillips, the second, to start the third quarter of action to put Moses Lake ahead by double digits, 38-28. The quick offensive spurt sputtered over the next five minutes of play as the Chiefs couldn't buy a basket. But the team was able to hold off a late charge by the Blue Devils and led 45-35 heading into the final eight minutes.

Walla Walla's Nick Peasley hit a trey to start the fourth quarter to close within eight, 45-38. Bennett responded for Moses Lake with a 3-point basket off an inbound pass from Jordan Chavez with two seconds on the shot clock to put the Chiefs back up by 10.

The Blue Devils got within eight points, 48-40, but a 16-8 run was the undoing for Walla Walla as Moses Lake came away with a 64-48 win.

The win improves the Chiefs to 3-4 in the Big Nine and into a four-way tie with Chiawana, Wenatchee and Walla Walla for third place with five games left in the regular season.

"It (the win) really tightens things up," Hohman said. Now we need to go take care of business at Chiawana Monday."