Lions run away from Moses Lake freshmen in non-league action

MOSES LAKE — Wednesday night’s game between Moses Lake Christian Academy and the Moses Lake High School freshman team was a nice little match-up between programs that don’t often get a chance to play one another.

Both teams needed a game to fill out the schedule, might as well just drive across town instead of across the Columbia Basin with the holiday season closing in fast.

The Moses Lake Christian Lions (3-2) held the Chiefs scoreless for five minutes, closing out the third quarter and carrying over to the fourth, to beat the Moses Lake frosh 54-28 in non-league action.

Moses Lake Christian took a 29-13 lead into the intermission. Lions eighth-grade point guard Pierre Boorman scored six of his game-high 21 points in the final three minutes of the third quarter, including a 3-point goal from the corner as the horn sounded. The Lions’ 2-3 zone smothered the Chiefs, holding Moses Lake scoreless from the 2:58 mark in the third until Wayne Blanchard scored on a traditional three-point play at 5:43 in the final period to make it 47-21 lead. Combined with the 12-3 run during that span, the Lions maintained complete control down the stretch.

“I like the way we played defense tonight. We’ve been working on our 2-3 zone and putting pressure on the other team,” Boorman said. “On offense, it’s better when we run because it gets the defense on their heels and gets everybody on our team involved.”

The best exchange of the night came in the fourth quarter when guard Dylan Roylance picked Boorman’s pocket with a steal at mid-court and the Chiefs had a two-on-one break bouncing it back and forth over Boorman’s head as he hustled back on defense. But the 5-foot-7 eighth-grader had the last laugh when he ended up blocking Roylance’s lay-up attempt from the backside to shut the drive down.

“We did a pretty decent job on defense. We worked really hard in our zone,” Lions coach Lonny Brown said. “We don’t have a lot of footwork to play man (defense). We tried to work on it some in the fourth quarter.

“But I thought we did a good job closing out on their shooters. We have to continue work hard on our rebounding because we’re not good enough to give teams two, three or four shots a possession.”

Boorman finished the night with a game-high 21 points, including two 3-point goals. Walt Meise scored eight of his 14 points in the first half. Weston Meise was the third Lion in double digits, contributing 10 points.

Gabe Lucio and Drake Waites led the Chiefs with 10 points apiece.

Moses Lake Christian hosts Easton Dec. 28 to begin Central Washington B play. The Moses Lake frosh are off until Jan. 5.

Moses Lake freshmen               5    8   5   10 - 28

Moses Lake Christian               14 15  14   11 - 54

Moses Lake freshmen - Dylan Roylance 2, Wayne Blanchard 6, Gabe Lucio 10, Drake Waites 10. Totals: 9 4-7 28.

Moses Lake Christian - Jacob Robertson 2, Chris Voigt 2, Pierre Boorman 21, Caedman Waldrop 4, Luke Emerson 1, Weston Meise 10, Walt Meise 14. Totals: 22 4-16 54.