Moses Lake boys basketball split games
MOSES LAKE - The Chiefs finished out regular season play with a loss and a win over the weekend. Moses Lake was turned back by Sunnyside at home Friday, and then picked up a road win at Eisenhower Saturday.
The split put the Chiefs at 5-10 in the Big Nine Conference standings and 7-13 overall.
Sunnyside 59
Moses Lake 55
The Chiefs were hoping to pick up a win on Senior Night in the teams last home game of the season. But the Grizzlies had another thing in mind as Sunnyside had to do everything within its power to stave off a late game rally by Moses Lake.
The Chiefs fell behind 7-2 early in the first quarter of action, but fought back to take a 13-9 lead at the end of the first quarter.
But a 23-10 run by Sunnyside in the second eight minutes of play put the Grizzlies on top 32-23 at intermission.
"We played a pretty disappointing first half as we gave them too many easy looks," coach John Hohman said. "We fought hard and made a comeback in the second half, but were unable to pull out a win."
Sunnyside pushed its lead to 40-28 with three and a half minutes left in the third quarter. The Chiefs, refusing to lie down, mounted a comeback to get within 7 points, 45-38 to start the final eight minutes of action. A bucket by Josh Hirz to start the fourth quarter closed the gap to 45-40.
Mitch Hohman drained a 3-point shot to make it 46-43 in favor of the Grizzlies. Cameron Ballard hit one of two free throws, and a steal and a bucket by Denis Ulyanchuk tied the score 46 all with just under five minutes to go.
The teams tied the score again at 49-49 and 51-51 with a minute and 49 seconds to play. A score and two free throws by Sunnyside made it 55-51 Grizzlies with 39 seconds on the clock.
Ulyanchuk was fouled in the act of shooting with 26 seconds to go, but made only one of two shots.
Down by 3 points and time ticking away, the Chiefs unintentionally fouled Sunnyside's Cody Fernandez who made both free throws to push the Grizzlies lead back to 5 points, 57-52.
A second 3-point bucket by Hohman made it a 2-point game, 57-55 with 12 second to go. Another successful trip to the charity strip for Fernandez gave Sunnyside a 59-55 lead.
Moses Lake got the ball back with plenty of time to drive down court, get a quick score and call a time out, but was unable to convert as time ran out.
Ulyanchuk led the attack for the Chiefs with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Cameron Ballard had 9 points, Hirz added 8 and Hohman finished with 6 in the loss.
Moses Lake 54
Eisenhower 39
The lopsided road win against the Cadets Saturday helped ease the pain somewhat of the close loss to Sunnyside the night before, but couldn't erase the defeat from the win-loss column.
Still, the Chiefs ended the season on a positive note as they head to district play.
The game against Eisenhower was close at the onset with Moses Lake holding a slim 13-12 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The Chiefs got some much needed breathing room with a 16-6 run to go up 29-18 at the half.
A tight 11-10 third quarter gave the Cadets hope, but Eisenhower still trailed by 12 points, 40-28.
Ulyanchuk was high scorer for Moses Lake with 21 points.
"This was kind of a crazy game," Hohman said. "We didn't' play very well, but still came out with a win."
Moses Lake hits the road Friday for a district first round loser-out game against the Wildcats at Eastmont High School in Wenatchee.
"This is going to be a tough game for us. We can't play like we did over the weekend or we'll lose," Hohman said. "But if we play like we are capable of playing, we can give them a good ball game. If we win, we'll play the winner of the Davis-Wenatchee game in round two."