MLCA boys drop game to Kodiaks

EAST WENATCHEE - Lowell Kirkwood scored 20 points, Miller Wang and Austin Ray added 9 each, and Quade Godfrey and Alec Naccarato finished with 6 points apiece, but their efforts weren't enough to pull out an overtime win against Columbia Adventist Saturday night.

The 57-52 loss to the Kodiaks in the regional tournament at Eastmont High School knocked Moses Lake Christian Academy (MLCA) out of postseason play, and put an end to the Lions season.

"We had plenty of chances to get a win, but were unable to take advantage of them" coach Duke Wood said. "I guess it just wasn't meant to be."

The game got off to a slow start for the Lions as MLCA fell behind 13-5 at the end of the first eight minutes of play, and was down 24-15 at the break. But the second half turned into a real barn burner as the lead changed hands eight times and was tied four times.

Down by 9 points at the half, the Lions scratched their way back into contentions to get within arms reach, 37-34 at the end of the third quarter. MLCA tied the score 37 all early in the fourth quarter, then played even ball with Columbia Adventist until the Kodiaks edged out front by 3 points, 46-43 with under 30 seconds left to play.

Ray came up big for Lions on their next possession, knocking down a trey to tie the score 46-46.

MLCA had a chance to take the lead and possibly win the game on its following possession as Kirkwood was fouled and went to the line for two free throw attempts with 19 ticks left on the clock.

"Lowell is typically a pretty reliable free throw shooter," Wood said. "I thought if he could at least make one of them we could get a stop and win it. He missed them both, but fortunately we did get a stop to send the game to overtime."

Unfortunately, the Lions were outscored 11-6 in the extra period and lost the game by 5 points.

"It's tough to lose a game like this after working so hard to get back in it," Wood said. "But we had a good run, finished 13-1 in the league, and made the Sweet 16 while a lot of other teams were sitting at home."

Losing an overtime game in the regional tournament and getting bounced out of postseason play is a difficult way to end the season, but Wood said a lot of positive things will come out of the experience.

"At the beginning of the year I wasn't sure if we'd have enough kids turnout to even have a team this season," Wood said. "But we did and ended up going a lot farther than I really expected. We are a very young team ... made it to regionals ... the kids got a taste of what it's like to be here and now know what it's like to be a senior (Kirkwood and Godfrey) and lose the last game of your high school career. Hopefully that will resonate with them and the guys will come back fired up and ready to get after it again next year."