Moses Lake girls basketball continues torrid summer schedule

MOSES LAKE - It's been a busy off season for the Chiefs basketball team as the girls have played 15 games over a span of five days.

Moses Lake finished 3-1 to take second place in the Wenatchee Tournament June 15-16, went 5-4 at the annual Gonzaga Camp in Spokane June 16-19, and took both games in the Kamiakin Summer League June 20.

Wenatchee Tournament

The Chiefs beat Mt. Si 61-27 in the first game of the tournament, turned back Chelan, 53-31 in the second, and knocked off host Wenatchee 54-32 in the third game.

The three wins landed Moses Lake in the championship game, where the team dropped a hard-fought contest to Central Valley, 41-37.

McKenna Walker led the Chiefs offensive out put in the four games with 69 points. Jessie Loera finished with 41 points and 20 assists, and Carina LeFave led the rebound effort with 22.

"The championship game was fun and well-played by both sides.  Central Valley has two post players that were very tough for us to defend and score against." coach Matt Strophy said. "McKenna Walker and Emily Olson kept the game close, but CV just wouldn't let us get out and run.  When we control the pace, we are much better. Central Valley forced us to slow down. We took care of the ball and executed our offenses, but the shots weren't falling for us." 

Gonzaga Team Camp

Moses Lake took five of nine games at the Gonzaga Team Camp. The Chiefs started out with a 47-35 win over Rocky Mountain from Boise. The team lost to St. Mary's Academy from Portland, 52-44 in the second game of the camp, beat Lake City (Coeur d'Alene) 52-23 in Game 3, lost a lopsided contest to Coeur d'Alene 56-23 in the fourth game, were turned back by Lebanon, Ore., 46-34 in Game 5, then pulled out a 40-34 win over Walla Walla in the sixth game. The Chiefs blew past Capital (Helena) 40-26 in Game 7, lost to Chiawana 55-45 in Game 8, and wrapped up play with a 44-28 victory over Glacier Peak from Snohomish in the final contest.

Walker scored in double-figures in seven of the nine games to finish with 105 points.

"Our annual trip to Gonzaga's team camp was a complete success.  It was a busy Sunday for us as we had to finish the tournament up in Wenatchee, come back to Moses Lake to pack and reorganize ourselves, then head to Spokane to check-in at 3 p.m.," Strophy said. "The girls are pretty resilient, so we were able to accomplish a lot in our four days at Gonzaga.  Our win-loss record of 5-4 is not indicative of our success.  We had an extremely difficult schedule, which is exactly what we wanted and needed.  The competition was first-rate, and showed us we can compete with the best in the region. But still have some areas where we can improve."

Kamiakin League

The Chiefs got blow-out wins in both games of the Kamiakin Summer League competition. Moses Lake clobbered Southridge 60-16 in Game 1, then posted a 40-25 win over host Kamiakin in Game 2.

The Chiefs got balanced scoring against Southridge with Walker draining 15 points, LeFave knocking down nine, and Kaitlyn Stevens, Jessie Loera and Madison Tudor finishing with seven each. Alyssa Balderas had six.

"Southridge was missing a few of their varsity players to a soccer game, so that had an impact on what they could or couldn't do against us," Strophy said. "But I still believe we are the better team, and it showed as we finished with 30 steals. We played a great all-around game ... very unselfish."

Jessie Loera led the attack for the Chiefs in the 15-point win over Kamiakin with 12 points, six steals, six assists and four rebounds.

"This was our second time playing Kamiakin in summer league," Strophy said. "We beat them by nine points the first time when they were missing their best player (Sira Toure). So, this was an even better victory for us, even though we struggled with 19 turnovers.  We did what was necessary for our team to win."

The Chiefs wrap up summer league games tomorrow against Hanford and Pasco.