No headline
Connor Vanderweyst/Columbia Basin Herald Moses Lake guard Jamie Loera pulls up for a shot against Kentridge.
Connor Vanderweyst/Columbia Basin Herald Moses Lake's Jessica Olson is fouled by two Kentridge defenders.
Connor Vanderweyst/Columbia Basin Herald Moses Lake's Abby Rathbun drives to the basket against Kentridge.
MOSES LAKE — Ellie Mayo was trapped on the perimeter.
As the two Kentridge defenders converged, Mayo saw a cutting Jamie Loera and lofted a pass that Moses Lake’s star guard snatched with one hand. Loera gathered herself and made a leaning jumper that put the Chiefs ahead by seven points with less than 40 seconds to play.
“I said thank God to Jamie,” said Mayo, who scored eight points off the bench. “I was doubled, threw it and kind of was hoping to God her or Abby (Rathbun) caught it with one hand and she got it and it just makes me look better when she does stuff like that.”
Loera scored a game-high 25 points and Moses Lake beat Kentridge 65-57, advancing to the state quarterfinals.
Moses Lake started the fourth quarter on an 8-0 run and led by as much as 10 points before defensive stopper Rathbun was saddled with her fourth foul and had to sit. Behind freshman Jordyn Jenkins, Kentridge answered with its own 8-0 run to pull within two points.
“I think the mark of a championship team is that we withstood that run and we stayed the course,” head coach Matt Strophy said. “And that’s something that we talked about pretty much in every timeout and quarter break is stay the course. We’ve got the experience, we know what we’re doing, relax and stay the course and it will work out in the end and it did.”
Rathbun checked back in — and in consummate game of runs fashion — sparked an 8-2 spurt by the Chiefs that closed the game; Jessica Olson buried a transition 3-pointer, Rathbun made two free throws and Loera scored three points in the sequence.
“She just has a lot of positive energy,” Loera said. “The whole team does, but Abby brings that spark and she picks us up even when we’re down on an 8-0 run and she’s really good at giving us a lot of energy.”
Kentridge’s 6-foot-3 sophomore post JaQuaya Miller scored 14 first-half points, but was held to four in the second half. Along with Rathbun, Moses Lake threw Alexya Sandmann and Morgan Yamane on Miller in the post. Even guard Taylor Stevens drew a foul on Miller.
“She is very tough to guard,” Strophy said. “Credit her and number 32, their other post, they played a heck of a game and they were strong and they finished and we thought we’d wear them down and frustrate them and I think we did, but not to the point where they gave up and I think they’re going to be really, really good as they continue to get older and more experience.”
With the win, Moses Lake gets a bye to start the state tournament and will play either Eastlake or Camas Thursday at 9 p.m.
“It gives us another day to practice, it lets us get ourselves back together and get ready for the (Tacoma) Dome because we know that that place is huge and there’s so many people and there’s so many lights,” Loera said. “I think being able to regroup ourselves after this good win then we’ll be able to be ready.”
Score by quarters
ML — 16 21 12 16 65
K — 13 22 12 10 57
Box score
ML — Loera 25, Rathbun 16, Olson 14, Mayo 8, Sandmann 1, Maggie Strom 1
K — Miller 18, Jenkins 13, Tresai McCarver 10, Morgan Gary 8, Daylani Ballena 5, Taylor Jenkins 3