Moses Lake grabs road wins over Wenatchee, Eastmont

WENATCHEE - Moses Lake girls basketball came away with two road wins to open Columbia Basin Big 9 play.

The team sits atop the standings with a 2-0 league record and 4-1 overall record.

Friday night against the Panthers, sophomore guard Jessie Loera paced the offense scoring a game-high 22 points for the Chiefs in their 54-43 win. Moses Lake was able to sideline Wenatchee guard Katie Kansky with foul trouble and with their primary ball handler out of the game the turnovers began to mount for the Panthers.

"When she's not in the game to handle the ball they really take a hit and when she's out of the game we'll press," head coach Matt Strophy said. "Definitely when she's out of the game we pressure them big time and that's when we were really able to assert our lead a little bit."

With the Chiefs struggling to shoot early on, Loera took it upon herself to be the primary scorer. Strophy credits her ability to transition from facilitator to scorer to her basketball IQ. Loera's scoring helped jolt the Chiefs and soon after the offense began to click.

"Shooting the ball well is very contagious," Strophy said. "If one girl feels like she's a good shooter then all of a sudden all of them start feeling like they can be a good shooter."

Junior guard McKenna Walker was able to hit multiple three-pointers in the fourth quarter to extend Moses Lake's lead and the Chiefs left Wenatchee with a double digit win.

Walker continued her hot shooting against Eastmont on Saturday scoring 11 points in the first quarter, finishing with 20 points. The Chiefs defeated the Wildcats handily, 60-10. Loera only scored five points against Eastmont, but was able to distribute the ball well.

Moses Lake will look for revenge this Friday at home against Davis. The last time the Pirates were at Moses Lake High School it was to celebrate a district championship. Although it's still early in the season, Strophy wants his team to know the stakes of Friday's game.

"The last time Davis Pirates were in our gym they were cutting down our nets and we don't want tha to happen again," he said. "We want to set the tone Friday night for the rest of league."

AROUND THE BASIN

Ephrata boys basketball fell to Grandview 73-55 Friday. The Tigers sit at the bottom of the Central Washington Athletic Conference standings with a record of 0-2.

Ephrata girls basketball also dropped its game to Grandview Friday, 58-48.

Othello boys basketball scored a big win over Toppenish on Saturday, 65-48. Othello girls basketball dropped its game to Toppenish, 76-40. The team is still looking for its first win of the season.

Quincy boys basketball won its game against Cle Elum Friday, 65-43, while the girls team lost its game, 45-40.