Lions win league matchup at home against Eagles

MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake Christian Academy/Covenant Christian School Lions (8-2) basketball team defeated the Soap Lake Eagles (4-2), coming out 40-26 on Thursday. 

“We came out quickly on them, our goal was to get ahead of them as quickly as we possibly could and keep the momentum going,” said MLCA/CCS senior SanTahna Ferguson. 

The two teams started off strong in the first quarter, with the Lions coming out just ahead of the Eagles to end the first half with an end-of-half score of 18-13 in favor of the Lions. At the start of the fourth quarter, Soap Lake began to gain momentum and kept the game alive, but MLCA/CCS pumped the gas in the fourth quarter to pull ahead and gain the victory. 

Ferguson said a big lesson for the Lions on Thursday was the importance of teamwork. 

“The whole point of a team is to have five people on the court and working together to be successful,” she said. 

Lions head coach Josh Kast said the team knew from matchups against Soap Lake last season that the Eagles are a tough opponent and they would be evenly matched. With a senior-heavy, experienced team coming down to the Lions Den, it came down to persistence. 

“I think the kids rose to the occasion today,” said Kast. “It was a pretty physical game on both sides, but I think that we did enough defensively to come out on top.” 

Kast said he was very pleased with how well Ferguson and Amelia Shopbell shot the ball to earn threes as they were key in the win. Overall, it was a strong team victory as each player set up offensive opportunities. 

Despite the loss, Eagles head coach Leonard Lundgren said the girls played great defense as they held the Lions to their second-lowest scoring game all season. The struggle was on the offensive side of the ball, with key shots missed in the game. 

This was also the Eagles' first game back on the court since Dec. 22. While they’d had practice, he said, a season game is different and led to some nerves for the players. 

“We had every opportunity in the third quarter to take the lead, but we just didn’t execute on offense,” Lundgren said. 

He said it was still a great accomplishment for the Eagles that they still fought hard to finish strong and will apply that mindset through the rest of the season. Now that the team has had a chance to knock some of the winter break rust off against a tough opponent, they're ready to push forward. 

“This was a great matchup for us,” said Lundgren. “We’ve gone back and forth the last couple years, and it’s going to be great when we play them in our house in a couple weeks.” 

With the Lions moving further into the season, Kast said it will be important for the team to learn that valuing possessions is key to victory. Coming off a win against a Central Washington B rival Thursday evening helps solidify motivation as they strive to reach the state tournament. 

“We can be happy for (now), but we’ve still got a lot of growth we have to do defensively and offensively to get to where we want to be and be comfortable come February,” he said. 

Ferguson said she is proud of the Lions squad and is excited to see how far they can push themselves. 

“We’ve gone really far, we work really hard in practice and we push each other as much as we can in order to be successful,” she said. 

The Lions' next matchup is Tuesday at home against Pateros at 7 p.m. The Eagles returned home Saturday to play Manson, but the results were unavailable by press time. Soap Lake remains at home Tuesday to host the Wilson Creek Devils at 6 p.m. 

BOX SCORE:

MLCA: 8-10-10-12: 40
SPLK: 5-8-9-4: 26 

    Freshman Jade Hart from Soap Lake dribbles the ball along the center of the court during Thursday’s league matchup against the Lions.