Jessie Loera scores 30 points in rout of Post Falls

MOSES LAKE — Something about Jessie Loera and big games just go together.

In an early-season test against Chiawana, Loera poured in a school record 37 points. Tuesday, against a Post Falls team that nearly handed Moses Lake its first loss last season, Loera scored her team’s first 12 points, finishing with 30 for the game.

Coupled with the interior defense of Jessica Olson and Abby Rathbun, Moses Lake (3-0, 11-0) routed Post Falls 54-35.

“I just wanted to win and I wanted to get the momentum going to get my teammates up and going,” Loera said. “I just wanted to get the game going on a good start.”

Loera’s good start propelled the Chiefs to a 13-6 lead after one quarter.

Taylor Stephens’ three-pointer to start the second quarter pushed the lead to double digits before the Trojans scored eight straight points.

Nursing a two-point lead, head coach Matt Strophy toyed with the idea of calling a timeout to quell the Post Falls run but instead elected to have his team play through the rough patch.

Moses Lake responded with a 13-3 burst to close the half led by Jessie and Jamie Loera. The duo combined for 11 of the 13 points.

“Probably traditionally that would be a timeout situation,” Strophy said. “My philosophy is to save my timeouts for the end of the game when we need them and if we don’t need them, great. So if we can fight through a situation like that in the second quarter, which we were able to do ... I have faith in our girls that we can weather that little storm and then turn that corner and we were able to do that heading into halftime.”

A 12-point halftime lead ballooned to as much as 30 in the third quarter. Jessie Loera totaled 13 in the third period after scoring five points in the second quarter, including six in a row to start.

“That’s the senior and that’s the leader and that’s her confidence,” Strophy said. “It’s a bigger deal then, again, I think some people might realize her making her commitment to Gonzaga takes a lot of the pressure off so you can just go play.”

Jamie Loera chipped in 11 points on a night where the wings dominated.

Warden 60, Soap Lake 50

WARDEN — Despite a long layoff, Warden began CW2B South play with a win over pesky Soap Lake 60-50.

Overall, head coach Dan Caballero was happy with the win, but knows his team will have to play better this weekend against Kittitas and Mabton.

“We were pretty rusty tonight and it showed,” he said. “We turned it over more than we wanted to.”

Brenna Whitney led Warden (1-0, 7-0) with 22 points. Shania Kisler and Bailey Whitney recorded 14 and 13 points, respectively. Allycia Gonzales led the Cougars with 11 rebounds.

Ephrata 58, Othello 28

OTHELLO — Ephrata cruised past Othello 58-28.

It was the Tigers’ (5-3, 6-4) fourth win in the last five outings.

Ephrata travels to East Valley on Friday and Quincy on Saturday.