Moses Lake falls to Pirates at home, 54-52

MOSES LAKE - With just seconds remaining and Moses Lake down two, senior forward Kaitlyn Stevens let go a shot from behind the arc.

Just long.

Davis secured the subsequent rebound and time expired with the Pirates escaping with a 54-52 win.

The loss drops Moses Lake to 2-1 in the Columbia Basin Big 9 and 4-2 overall.

For most of the game the Chiefs had the advantage, but after building a lead the team's offense would stall against the Davis zone defense.

"I think once again on offense against their zone we settled for too many perimeter shots in the first half," head coach Matt Strophy said. "They got to the free throw line more times than we did. They're attacking us, we're not attacking them."

The Chiefs looked ready to put the memory of losing last year's district championship against Davis to rest after opening the game on a 12-1 run, but slowly the Pirates worked their way back into the game and took their first lead with 1:41 remaining in the first half, 22-21.

Davis entered the break with a slim two-point lead.

Strophy implemented a full court press to start the third quarter and the Chiefs regained the lead after starting the period on a 13-2 run. But Davis would not go away.

"We stopped doing the things that went on those runs or we try and force that last play," Strophy said. "We're on that 10-0 run or whatever it might be and then we force something and turn it over."

Fouls at costly times were the Chiefs undoing Friday night.

Davis tied the game at 52-52 after a foul by junior guard McKenna Walker sent a Pirate to the line. After a Walker missed three-pointer, sophomore guard Jessie Loera was called for a foul and Davis took the lead for good, 53-52.

Moses Lake couldn't hit the go-ahead or game-tying shot down the stretch and walked away with the loss.

"I've got to credit Davis for once again coming into our house and demonstrating that their game plan will work," Strophy said. "We've got some corrections to make and it'll be up to the coaches and our girls to figure out what those changes and adjustments need to be and then do it instead of talking about things and then going back to our same old M.O."

Walker and Loera were the driving force for the Chiefs against Davis. Walker scored a team-high 15 points while Loera was all over the court scoring 14 points, pulling down 14 rebounds and notching six steals.

However, Strophy doesn't want his point guard to have to shoulder the rebounding load every game.

"She shouldn't have to," he said. "We need other people stepping up to rebound. We've got floaters that are kind of watching around and then floating back and then she's going in and hustling after rebounds."

The Chiefs will look to rebound Saturday when the team travels to Sunnyside.