MLCA/CCS boys fall to Sunnyside Christian
MLCA/CCS senior Jacob Robertson (24) hugs his teammate, junior Michael Podolyn (42), after they lose to Sunnyside Christian in the WIAA state 1B boys basketball tournament on March 3. The Warriors still have a chance to place in the tournament depending on their performance on the court on Friday.
Rebecca Pettingill/Columbia Basin Herald
MLCA/CCS senior Pierre Boorman (32) maneuvers around an opponent on March 3 during the WIAA state tournament.
MLCA/CCS Jeff Boorman (20) makes a layup during the matchup against Sunnyside Christian at the WIAA state 1B boys basketball tournament on March 3.
MLCA/CCS senior Jacob Robertson (24) guards a Sunnyside Chrisitan opponent during the final minutes of the state matchup on March 3.
SPOKANE - The Moses Lake Christian Academy/Covenant Christian School boys basketball team fell to Sunnyside Christian at the state tournament on March 3.
“We want to play on Saturday,” said Ferguson. “So we got to take care of business tomorrow. And so that's the goal.”
MLCA/CCS will play March 4 at 10:30 a.m. If they lose, they are out of the tournament. If they win, they will play for fourth or sixth place on March 5.
Sunnyside Christian got the possession from the tip-off but the Lions quickly got the ball and managed to score the first points of the game with a wing shot from junior Jeff Boorman. Throughout the rest of the quarter, the two teams battled for the lead. MLCA/CCS pushes but falls behind in the first quarter 3-6.
The starters for the MLCA/CCS Lions were sophomore Jonah Robertson, senior Jacob Robertson, junior Michael Podolyn, junior Jeff Boorman and senior Pierre Boorman.
The Lions continued to be behind in both the second and third quarters, 10-15 and 21-29, despite their perseverance.
In a final push, MLCA/CCS nearly caught up during the fourth quarter. As it has a few times for the Lions this season, it all came down to the final minute. With 49 seconds left on the clock, MLCA/CCS were down by only 4 points. As time ticked away, the Lions worked to score and managed to be one point behind with 15 seconds left on the clock. Due to MLCA/CCS missed shots and fouls, Sunnyside Christian was able to gain two more points. The score was 36-39 with 11 seconds left on the clock. MLCA/CCS had one shot at tieing the game.
In the final seconds, MLCA/CCS Jeff Boorman attempted a three-pointer to tie the game but missed. The Lions fell, 36-39.
MLCA/CCS head coach Emerson Ferguson said he thinks their loss was mainly due to too many missed shots.
Ferguson said he was proud the team was able to turn it around in the second half and get close to taking the game.
“You know, it wasn't nearly as good as it should have been the first time. Had we done some different things in the first thing we could have definitely made a difference kept battling you know losing Jonah (Robertson) to fouling out, that hurts. Because he's another threat out there but the guys stepped up. And that's all I could ever ask.” said Ferguson.
It was revealed later that Robertson did not foul out in the fourth quarter, but only had four fouls of the five allowed by the rules, but Ferguson said he was told by an official Robertson had five and to take him out of the game.
“(The team) need to hold their heads up because this game is as good as advertised. Sucks that we didn't come out on the side that we wanted to but there's still basketball though,” said Ferguson.
Box Score:
MLCA/CCS - 3 7 11 15 - 36
Sunnyside Christian - 6 9 14 10 - 39
