Lady Lions hope to repeat in 2012-13

MOSES LAKE - Coach Bryce McPartland has one thing on his mind for the Moses Lake Christian Academy (MLCA) girls basketball team this year; make a return trip to postseason play.

And the Lady Lions have a good shot at accomplishing the goal. But they'll have to do it without All-League player Abby Garrett who graduated this spring.

"Abby was a special kid," McPartland said. "Her defensive abilities and leadership will be missed."

McPartland has been coaching for five years at MLCA. During that time period, his teams have amassed a 63-28 overall record.

The Lady Lions finished undefeated in league play last season, were conference and district champion, but lost 45-35 in regional play to Almira/Coulee-Hartline who finished third at the state tournament.

"Our team looks good at the moment. We do a lot of scoring and timing drills and are about 25 percent better on them than we were at this point last year," McPartland said. "Our kids put in a ton of work this summer. We played an extensive summer schedule, not counting the various 3-on-3 tourneys we entered them in. And our freshman have played over 100 high school games between their 7th and 8th grade seasons."

The strength of this year's team, McPartland said, is strong smart athletic kids who really like to play ball.

"They are very good at it. And their confidence in their abilities is a definite plus," he said. "We also put in a ton of work during the offseason, and I expect that to pay off as we run into teams that maybe took it a little easier March through October."

The weakness of the team he said is depth and youth.

"With an average age of 14, we're young again as seven of nine kids on the team are freshmen or younger," he said. "There are just some things that only experience can teach, and although we've put in a lot of work, we have plenty to learn."

McPartland does however, have three experienced player he'll count on to lead the team this year.

"We are expecting big things out of First-Team All league players senior Madison Yamane and freshman Anna Yarbro (the first and only 8th grader at MLCA ever to be so named)," he said. "Alex Toevs looked good this summer, then led Quincy girls soccer to an unexpectedly strong season, so I think she's ready to burst onto the scene as well."

Big changes have come about in the league as well this season as Pateros, Entiat, Soap Lake and Waterville all dropped in classification into the conference.

'These teams are all well coached with significantly larger student bodies than we have at the Academy." McPartland said. "Pateros and Entiat in particular are historic B heavies. I expect to compete well with them, but these are teams that routinely move players to the next level, and they'll be tough outs."

The Lady Lions get a chance to see what they are made of when the team hosts Odessa/Harrington in a nonleague contest to kick off the season Dec. 4 at 6 p.m.