Moses Lake girls prepare for fourth straight regional game

MOSES LAKE — Moses Lake head coach Matt Strophy described his group as energized, but not excitable.

Preparing for their fourth straight regional game, the Chiefs have been there before and then some. The postseason routine is ingrained in almost the entirety of the varsity roster — now it’s time to execute.

“This game we’re playing to get a bye,” junior forward Abby Rathbun said. “That’s the mindset we’re going to go into this game with.”

Saturday’s game against seventh-ranked Kentridge is a rematch from the 2014 regional in which Moses Lake won 61-40. However, the only holdovers are the respective coaches.

The Chargers finished their regular season 19-1, but then dropped two straight games in the West Central District Tournament to finish third. The two losses did not penalize seeding since the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) number locks after the regular season is completed.

“We’ve been able to take a look at our film from three years ago because it’s the same coach and a similar style to what they do,” Strophy said. “Their personnel is different just like ours... We’ve made a lot more changes I think I saw from his (Kentridge coach Bob Sandall) film three years to the film that I’ve seen of them this season, they’ve made fewer changes than we have so hopefully that gives us an advantage.”

Like any deep postseason run, Moses Lake will have to contend with a team that holds the size advantage. JaQuaya Miller, a 6-foot-3 sophomore post, leads Kentridge and was recently named the 4A North Puget Sound League Cascade Division MVP. Miller is paired with 6-foot-1 freshman Jordyn Jenkins.

Rathbun is no stranger to guarding bigger opposition. Moses Lake’s defensive stopper has matched up with 6-foot-3 Taya Corosdale of Bothell and the 6-foot-2 Hull sisters of Central Valley earlier in the season. Rathbun also guarded 6-foot-5 Deja Strother as a freshman; Strother currently plays for the University of Washington.

“For me, when I played against a big girl like that it’s definitely just constantly running the court, constantly working the court and when you get inside just making her move,” Rathbun said. “That’s always been my rules when I play against big girls. My dad has always told me that’s the best way to get a big girl moving, you just keep her moving and just keep wearing her down play after play.”

The venue certainly will favor Moses Lake’s transition style.

This is Moses Lake’s third regional game at Big Bend Community College in the last four years. The 94-foot court and raucous atmosphere of the home fans has helped the Chiefs blow out the Chargers in 2014 and pull away from Chiawana in the fourth quarter in 2016.

“Last year the gym was full and I think that helps having our own fans there from Moses Lake,” senior captain Jessica Olson said. “A lot more people come and it’s just positive because people are cheering us on every bucket and when we hear our crowd it just gets our adrenaline going and I think it helps us out a lot.”

Despite finishing second to Sunnyside for the Columbia Basin Big Nine league championship, Moses Lake is playing its best basketball of the season. The Chiefs are on a nine-game win streak that includes two district games won by an average of 17.5 points.

In the district championship game at Sunnyside, a traditional house of horrors for Moses Lake, Jamie Loera ignited for a career-high 28 points in a 13-point win.

“Being able to score like that with my team trusting me and me trusting them, it helps me as a player build confidence knowing that my team trusts me,” she said. “That place is so hard to play at and so being able to play as a team together, it really helps us blur out all the people around us and just play as a team.”

Strophy hopes that Loera and the entire team can maintain its high level of play on Saturday.

“I do think it was a good ball to start rolling toward the state tournament,” Strophy said.