Moses Lake girls take one of two games
Courtney Junjara pushes the ball up court while teammate Carina LeLave move in position to set a screen in the game against Davis Saturday.
MOSES LAKE - After finishing the regular season as Big Nine league champions with a 14-1 record and riding a nine game win streak, the Chiefs appeared to be a team of destiny as they hosted and won the first round of the district tournament Thursday against Wenatchee.
But Moses Lake came up on the short end of the scoreboard, 51-47, at home Saturday night against Davis in round two, and was bounced out of postseason play. The Pirates were the last team to beat Moses Lake in the regular season Dec. 14.
"It's tough to swallow a loss like that, but we can't judge our season on one game," coach Matt Strophy said. '"We talked in the locker room afterward about the season we had. Last year we went 3-18 and finished fourth, but this season, we turned things around and finished first in league with an 18-4 record. We had a fantastic season, and I am really proud of our girls and coaches. "
Moses Lake 59
Wenatchee 28
The Chiefs found little resistance from the Panthers in game one of the tournament Thursday. Moses Lake jumped out to a 12-9 score at the end of the first quarter and was up 33-18 at the half. The Chiefs outscored Wenatchee 26-10 in the second half of action to cruise to the win. McKenna Walker led the way for Moses Lake with 23 points. Jessie Loera added a season high 18, Emily Olson had 9 points, Kaitlyn Stevens and Selina Koon scored 4 each and Courtney Kunjara finished with 1 point to round out the scoring for the Chiefs.
"We started a bit slow against Wenatchee, but were able to crank things up in the second quarter," Strophy said. "Our offense got on track, and our defense really shut them down. Limiting Wenatchee to 10 second half points was a big accomplishment for our girls. We finished the game off on a high note and didn't let them back in it. It was a great momentum builder heading into the district championship game against Davis."
Davis 51
Moses Lake 47
It was a see-saw battle between the Chiefs and the Pirates as the teams battled it out for the right to move on to the regional tournament. Moses Lake and Davis were tied 14-14 after the first eight minutes of play, but the Pirated held a slim 21-18 lead at the break.
An 18-16 run by the Chiefs in the third quarter got Moses Lake within a point, 37-36 heading into the final eight minutes. The Chiefs put 11 points on the board in the fourth quarter, but the Pirates scored 14 to pull out the win and put an end to the Moses Lake girls season.
Walker was high scorer once again for the Chiefs with 20 points. Stevens and Loera added 6 each and Koon and Sadie Nielsen finished with 2 points each.
"We lost the momentum from Thursday night's win in the district championship against Davis. We looked a little tired and sluggish, and maybe even a little surprised at their intensity level," Strophy said. "The Pirates came to play, and we allowed them to outwork us in some of the little areas. Since this was the fourth game against Davis this year, we both know what each other's strengths and weaknesses were. They were just better than us at executing game plans. We preach to the girls about taking care of the ball, making good decisions, and playing team basketball. Davis did a better job in those three areas than we did. We made a valiant effort late, but Davis knocked down their free throws when it counted and finished off the win."
Although it's hard to find value in a loss, Strophy said the team will benefit from it.
"We return nine players from this team, so we will use this loss as motivation for next season," he said. "We just have to decide what we are willing to do in the off-season to make ourselves better as individuals and as a team."
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