Phillips scores 32, Moses Lake beats Chiawana 70-61
Connor Vanderweyst/Columbia Basin Herald Moses Lake guard Zach Phillips (22) drives baseline against Chiawana's Malik Taylor.
Connor Vanderweyst/Columbia Basin Herald Moses Lake's Evan McLean puts up a shot against Chiawana.
Connor Vanderweyst/Columbia Basin Herald Moses Lake point guard Cory Kunjara drives the ball against Chiawana.
MOSES LAKE — Surely the opposition has to take a look at Zach Phillips and say, “Him?”
But the 6-foot guard with a mullet is unassuming in appearance only. There’s an improved shooting stroke, deft touch around the rim and a swagger that comes as an upperclassmen.
Chiawana can attest to that.
Phillips scored 15 of his game-high 32 points in the third quarter and Moses Lake pulled away from Chiawana late to win 70-61.
“I saw that we were driving, but we weren’t getting a lot of calls,” he said. “I just had to power through it so third quarter I just started not worrying if I was getting fouled and I just went through it and went up.”
Moses Lake began a bit unhinged, committing seven fouls in the first quarter and starting the game with a three-minute scoring drought. The erratic play was uncharacteristic of the team so far this season, according to head coach John Hohman.
“We didn’t play smart at times,” he said. “This group has got a high basketball IQ, they really do, and so it was really uncharacteristic of the way they should play. They’re a much better team than that.
“That’s not taking anything away from Chiawana because they played well.”
Moses Lake overcame the slow start due in large part to the three-point shot. Cory Kunjara made two of the team’s four three-pointers in the period, maintaining a 14-14 tie.
Evan McLean and Phillips collaborated on an 11-0 second-quarter run to build a 25-18 lead. However, led by Malik Taylor, Chiawana rallied to take a 33-29 halftime lead.
Taylor tried to match Phillips shot-for-shot, scoring a team-high 23 points to go with 11 rebounds.
“He’s a good player,” said Phillips, who had six rebounds and two assists. “He’s pretty tough guard, but it was fun playing against him.”
Phillips scored Moses Lake’s first seven points in the third quarter, capping his 15-point outburst with a pull-up three-pointer as time expired and a 50-46 lead.
Both teams traded baskets to start the fourth quarter before key defensive stops helped the Chiefs methodically build their lead. Ryan Karstetter — who had three steals and two blocks to go with his 14 points — gave Moses Lake its largest lead 65-56 on a second chance lay-up.