Mavericks final home win sends them to district championship

MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake Mavericks (14-6) defeated the Sunnyside Grizzlies 72-64 in their final home game of the regular season Friday. Mavs junior Caden Barney complimented his team for their efficiency on offense.   

“Our team is big on making the extra pass and finding the open person and creating (open) shots and buckets,” Barney said. “I was just trying to do my best for my team and provide for my seniors and pick them up and keep them going through the whole game.”  

The Mavericks held the lead from the start of the game; however, Sunnyside hung around the entire time. Throughout the first half, the Mavericks made several plays to build their lead behind leaders like Brady Jay, Kyre Wiltbank and Grady Walker heading into halftime. In the second half, Sunnyside improved offensively, even outscoring the Mavs in the fourth quarter. However, it was not enough for a comeback as MLHS made enough plays down the stretch to seal the win.   

“A great win, Sunnyside is a great team,” head coach Craig Groth said. “We knew that coming into it the game was going to be a battle right from the start. We were able to control the game, dictate the game how we wanted to on our terms, which let us expand the lead a little bit.”  

The Mavericks were determined to attack the rim from the start of the game, Groth said. Efficient ball movement and communication helped Moses Lake find open driving lanes to score inside in the paint consistently. If Wiltbank wasn’t putting the ball in the air where only Walker could get it, Jay was pulling up from midrange for easy buckets. By the end of the first quarter, the Mavericks led 14-8.   

Moses Lake continued to push the pace in the second quarter, but Sunnyside started to build momentum in their own regard. As the Mavericks took a 20-10 lead, a foul disrupted the momentum of the game momentarily, which allowed the Grizzlies to start battling back into the game.   

However, other players like Tyce Miller, Carter Anderson and Barney got involved as MLHS built a 31-21 lead by halftime. Groth was complimentary of his players' relentlessness on offense.   

“We wanted to use our height and strength advantage to go inside against (Sunnyside). We went up with the good ball movement. Players brought a lot of energy. They found a little crease, a little gap, and they will exploit that, and get to the rim. They did a good job of being very relentless on getting to that rim and putting the pressure on the defense,” Groth said.   

The Mavericks carried their momentum into the third quarter as Jay was consistently driving into the paint, either scoring a bucket or drawing fouls which converted to points at the free-throw line. Moses Lake closed out the quarter with a statement momentum play by Barney, who slammed the ball through the net at the buzzer to take a 52-39 lead.   

In the fourth quarter, Moses Lake pushed the pace in transition, which helped Jay and other players draw fouls as they ran down the court. However, MLHS went through a rough patch where ball control became a struggle that Sunnyside capitalized on to cut their deficit to 61-59 in the final minutes of the game.   

During a timeout by the Mavericks, Groth imparted a message to his players to help them calm down and not let the game slip out of control. 

“They put some pressure on us. We got a little out of character by trying to do a little bit too much, and they forced turnovers, which got us out of our game,” Groth said. “We still have to be the aggressors, we have to go work, work to go through them and then convert on our end.”  

Moses Lake stuck to their game and what worked as they drew more fouls and got to the free-throw line, including an and-one play by Jay. The Mavericks were able to run the clock out to seal the win.   

With the win, the Mavs will advance to the 4A District 5 championship game, where they will travel to West Valley on Feb. 19 at 6 p.m. Making this game puts them one step closer to their goals, according to Groth.   

“We got to continue to get better, no matter what,” he said. “They're always tough at home. It's a tough place to play; it's been a couple years since we got them down there, but we'll go down and get them down there. As long as we win one of the next two games that we're in, that we'd be going in state tournament.”   

BOX SCORE:   

SNNY: 8-13-18-25: 64
MLHS: 14-17-21-20: 72  

    The Mavs’ Tyce Miller (5) eyes the rim as he pulls up to shoot the ball against Sunnyside Friday.
  

    Brady Jay (2) shoots over a Sunnyside defender during their game Friday.
  

    The Mavericks’ Kyre Wiltbank (50) drives the ball inside against a Sunnyside defender Friday.