No. 1 Central Valley and No. 2 Moses Lake meet in state quarterfinals

MOSES LAKE — Surprised and frustrated is how Moses Lake head coach Matt Strophy described his reaction to the 4A Girls Hardwood Classic tournament draw.

Capping a curious day of draws, second-ranked Moses Lake — according to the Associated Press — was matched up with top-ranked Central Valley. Both teams are undefeated, a combined 48-0.

“We wanted to face them in the championship game on Saturday night,” Strophy said. “Since that’s not the possibility then you’ve got get your mind right and focus on what you can control and that’s preparation.”

Similarly to its regional game against Chiawana, Moses Lake has degree of familiarity with Central Valley. The two schools have played each other in the summer and members of both squads play on the same club team in Spokane.

Made up of almost entirely freshmen and sophomores, Central Valley boasts 6-foot-1 Lexie and Lacie Hull.

“They’re 6’1” and lengthy so yeah I think they’re kind of the key of the team and if try and get them shut down I believe we can get through it,” Jessie Loera said.

The Hulls, coupled with effective guard play, powered the Bears to a 25-0 record. Central Valley thumped Rogers (Puyallup) 59-32 in the regional round.

Moses Lake will counter with the offensive punch of Jessie and Jamie Loera to go along with an active defense that gave up 35 points per game during the season, good for a differential of almost 26.

The Chiefs (23-0) will also be the more experienced team.

No player on Central Valley has any state tournament experience, while Jessie Loera will start her seventh game in the Tacoma Dome on Thursday.

“I feel more confident know,” she said. “I’m familiar with the atmosphere up there and everything. At first its kind of different — bigger gym, bigger court, different lighting — but now I’m kind of used to it and I’m excited to go up there one last time.”

More, Jamie Loera, Abby Rathbun and Jessica Olson logged heavy minutes in last year’s state tournament.

“I’d like to think that that plays a major factor and I think in our program that plays a major factor in that every year we have three or four seniors, three or four juniors, sophomores and freshmen mixed in and we have the same thing again this year,” Strophy said. “So the idea is that we reload not rebuild and so when we have that type of experience out of not just our seniors who have been there and done that, but we have two sophomores that started and played in the state tournament last year as freshmen so they’ve got that experience.”

Busted brackets

Several key match-ups at the various state tournaments are happening much earlier than most people would like.

In the Class 4A boys tournament, No 1. Federal Way and No. 2 Gonzaga Prep can possibly meet in the semifinals. The 3A girls tournament also could feature a similar semifinal game with No. 1 Lynnwood up against No. 2 Bellevue. A rematch of last year’s 3A boys championship game between No. 1 Garfield and No. 3 Rainier Beach could occur in the semifinals as well.

At the Yakima Sun Dome, No. 2 Zillah meets No. 3 King’s in the first round of the 1A boys state tournament. Zillah upset top-ranked Lynden Christian in the regional round 60-49.

In the 2B boys state tournament at the Spokane Arena, No. 1 Brewster and No. 2 Morton-White Pass were place on the same side of the bracket and could potentially meet in the semifinals.

Also at the Spokane Arena, No. 1 Almira/Coulee Hartline meets No. 2 Seattle Lutheran in the quarterfinals.