Moses Lake eliminates Eastmont, moves on to semis

MOSES LAKE — For a stretch during its season, it looked as if Moses Lake would limp into the Columbia Basin Big Nine playoffs and be a one-and-done.

Moses Lake lost five out of six games from Jan. 7 to Jan. 23 after starting the season 8-2. However, despite a season-ending injury to Ryan Karstetter, the Chiefs rattled off four wins in a row to close their season and nailed down a No. 3 seed and a home district play-in game.

Hosting Eastmont, Moses Lake build an 18-point lead before staving off a late rally to win 78-71.

“They’ve had to overcome a lot of adversity,” head coach John Hohman said. “It’s good for them. They’re young; a lot of young guys playing. Sometimes we’re not as careful and cautious as we’d like to be.”

The first quarter as even for the most part as the Chiefs started on a 6-2 spurt before the Wildcats came back to tie the game 7-7.

Cesar Sandoval worked early and scored seven points in the first eight minutes. Sandoval ended the night with a double-double of 29 points and 13 rebounds.

At the end of the quarter, a Moses Lake turnover allowed Eastmont to race down the floor and tie the game 17-17 before the buzzer sounded.

Turnovers factored into the game being closer than it should have as Moses Lake coughed the ball up 16 times after just 12 giveaways in the last two games combined.

“Tonight was probably not our greatest night,” Hohman said.

A jumper by Zach Phillips gave Moses Lake some breathing room heading into halftime, stretching the lead to eight points.

Moses Lake appeared on the verge of putting Eastmont away in the third quarter after a 10-0 run.

However, Eastmont responded with an 8-0 run of its own to work the margin back down to 10 points, 46-36.

Moses Lake’s advantage hovered between 10 and 12 points for the rest of the quarter.

In the fourth quarter, fouls began to catch up with the Chiefs which allowed the Wildcats to methodically cut into the deficit. In all, both teams committed 47 fouls and attempted 71 free throws. Eastmont shot 83.3 percent from the line, while Moses Lake shot just 61.7 percent.

“Those are things that you’ve got to go up and you’ve got to take care of that,” Hohman said. “You’ve got to protect the lead... On the floor they have to be able to slow it down and make sure we get something positive out of it.”

Ricardo Gonzalez and Isaiah Thomas fouled out in the fourth quarter, both scoring 13 points each.

Eastmont got as close as three points after a basket by Alex Guerra.

“When it’s all said and done they won,” Hohman said. “That’s something nice for those guy because they deserve it, they really do.”

With the win, Moses Lake moves on to face Davis in the district semifinals. The winner of Thursday’s game will advance to the district championship and clinch a regional berth.

“Davis is going to be tough,” Hohman said. “They’re quick, they pressure, they do a lot of different things so we’ve got a lot of time to prepare for them: one day.”

Girls basketball

Selah 69, Ephrata 55

WAPATO — Ephrata dropped its district consolation game to Selah 69-55.

Ephrata is still alive in the postseason and will play at East Valley (Spokane) of the Great Northern League on Saturday.

East Valley finished the regular season ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press poll.