Lions earn two dominant wins

MOSES LAKE – Tuesday night saw two dominant wins for the Moses Lake Christian Academy/Covenant Christian School Lions on the basketball court, with the boys and girls basketball teams both taking home dominant wins against Manson.

Lions girls

The girls took the court first, and a defensive masterclass guided the Lions to a 60-7 win over the Trojans.

“We take pride in limiting the team to one shot on a possession, so we try not to let them have second-chance opportunities,” MLCA/CCS Head Coach Josh Kast said. “That’s something we pride ourself on, rebounding and not allowing second chances. They did a good job of that.”

Next, the boys used a three-point barrage to earn a 70-41 win.

“Win or lose, obviously I want to win, but win or lose, we’re going to put on a show,” Ferguson said. “We’re going to battle, we’re going to compete, and we’re going to be fun to watch.”

In the girls game, senior Makiya Kast led the Lions with 20 points with senior Kali Kast in second with 15 points. The latter reached the 1,000 career point mark this past Saturday against Mount Vernon Christian.

“It took a minute to set in, but I think it was very rewarding for how much time I’ve put into the sport,” Kali Kast said. “I’m very blessed for the coaching that I’ve had and the players I’ve had experience with.”

After a 13-2 lead after the first quarter, the three-point shots began to fall for the Lions. Makiya Kast and senior Allison Stanley both hit two threes in the second half of the Lion’s win.

“When the threes are dropping it’s nice, but we’ve got to do a better job of making layups,” Kast said. “That was another problem tonight, but it can be kind of contagious with our group. We have quite a few girls that can knock down threes, so one person hits two or three, the next person gets motivated to hit them.”

Up 45-6 at the half, MLCA/CCS held Manson scoreless through the third and only allowed a lone free throw to be scored late in the fourth quarter.

“It feels really good because defense has been, not a struggle for us, but on our weaker side,” Kast said. “Just being able to play defense at a high level is a good thing.”

Lions boys

In the boys game, the Lions started off with a 16-8 lead after the first quarter. Head Coach Emerson Ferguson said that fast starts were something the team struggled with in its previous two games.

“We didn’t start fast our past two games, and we had to climb out of a hole at halftime,” Ferguson said. “Today, we did not have to climb out of a hole. They started fast from the jump.”

After the first quarter, the threes began to fall for the Lions. Seniors Jeff Boorman and Michael Podolyn both connected on deep shots, as well as freshman Johnny Ferguson.

Ferguson said that the three-point shooting talent showed itself in the off-season and has been consistent throughout the first three games, though not to the level it was on Tuesday night.

“Who do you stop?” Ferguson said. “This guy just hit a three, alright, so guard him; and this guy hits a three, so guard him; so this guy hits a three. I’ve got so many shooters that it’s tough to guard.”

Podolyn finished the game with 20 points, connecting on three three-pointers.

“Michael, he’s hit threes before, but as accurate and as deadly as he is right now – I’ve never seen that,” Ferguson said. “He’s brought his game to a whole other level to start the season.”

The Trojans didn’t score more than eight points in a quarter until the fourth when the game was beyond reach.

“We want to create chaos for the other team,” Ferguson said. “We practice at this speed, so when we get out here in the game, we raise our level even higher and other teams raise their level to our practice level. We create chaos, and we’re all over the place.”

Ferguson said the way the Lions won on Tuesday night gives confidence to the team’s four freshmen on the roster.

“I think that scoring this many points tonight really gave us the opportunity to see what we’re capable of, and it really helped those youngsters understand what the plan is moving forward,” Ferguson said.

The MLCA/CCS girls improve to 2-1 on the year while the boys stay undefeated at 3-0. Ferguson said that despite the record, he’s still looking forward to improving.

“Feels almost as good as 4-0,” Ferguson said of the 3-0 start.

Ian Bivona may be reached at ibivona@columbiabasinherald.com.

Box Scores:

MLCA/CCS Girls

MLCA/CCS 13-13-19-15 60

Manson 2-4-0-1 7

MLCA/CCS Boys

MLCA/CCS 16-21-15-18 70

Manson 8-7-6-20 41