Lions dominate on their home court after rough patch

MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake Christian Academy/Covenant Christian School Lions earned a strong 72-12 win over La Salle on Tuesday evening following a three-game drought. The Lions are third in the Central Washington B league standings as the regular season nears its end in the coming weeks. 

“I think that it was a good game after going through a couple (rough) days to come back,” said Lions junior Amelia Shopbell. 

The Lions fired on all cylinders coming into the matchup, putting up 18 points in the first quarter and holding the opposition to six. MLCA/CCA extended the lead in the second quarter with an additional 23 points on the scoreboard and held La Salle to three.  

Coming out of the half did not change the momentum of the game as the Lions once again added 18 points to their lead and kept La Salle scoreless in the third quarter. The significant lead in the fourth quarter allowed Lions players off the bench to take to the court where they added 13 points to the board and held La Salle to three as the game ended in a 72-12 Lions victory. 

Shopbell played a crucial role on defense as she disrupted plays from La Salle to allow the Lions to regain possession on multiple drives. The offensive performance by the Lions was also impressive, with both SanTahna Ferguson and Taylor Starnes putting up 10 points each in the first half and Abby Stanley not far behind with seven. 

“We lost a tough one (Monday) night, one we were hoping to get at Liberty Christian, but came up short. (We) rebounded (Tuesday), playing well defensively, offensively,” said Lions Head Coach Josh Kast. “We were able to get everybody involved in the offense tonight, and everybody scored tonight.” 

Kast said this game helped MLCA/CCS get refocused as they rebuilt their confidence throughout the matchup. Playing La Salle also showed the team the successes of staying disciplined on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball. 

Tuesday’s game was a great opportunity for the Lions to come together and fix the basics after a rough patch of games, said Shopbell. Continued growth in their teamwork skills between the five players on the court at any given time is going to be crucial to their success as the postseason looms ahead. 

“I think we’re doing pretty good,” she said. “We have some games ahead of us that I think we should, not conquer on, but do better on and will help us in postseason.” 

The final stretch of the regular season will be tough for the Lions as they play the next five games on the road before finishing at home against Oroville. Kast said it's a long season, but it will be important to play their best basketball in these last six matchups before districts. 

As these games approach, he said the team will need to work on their rebounding, boxing out the opposition and valuing every possession by taking care of ball security. This will be crucial in the postseason as they play the top teams and any error can change the outcome of the game. 

“We’ve got a lot of games coming up here, so it’s going to be busy the next week,” said Kast. 

The Lions had a conference matchup against Pateros on Wednesday evening, but results were not available at the time of publication. The Lions will travel to Kittitas on Monday with tipoff at 6 p.m. 

BOX SCORE:  

MLCA: 18-23-18-13: 72 

LASL: 6-3-0-3: 12 

    MLCA/CCS senior SanTahna Ferguson moves down the court with possession of the ball during Tuesday’s home game. Ferguson led the team offensively with 12 points against La Salle.
  

    Lions junior Taylor Starnes looks to pass to an open teammate during Tuesday’s home game against La Salle. Starnes had a dominant first half performance as she added 10 to the score and was a constant threat at the net.
  

    Brynlynn King, a senior from the Lions, shoots for two with pressure from the defense Tuesday evening.
  

    MLCA/CCS junior Abby Stanley goes in for a layup to make the first points of the game early in the first quarter against La Salle. Stanley was an offensive force Tuesday putting up a total of 11 points.
  

    Vesta Koethke, an MLCA/CCS sophomore, shoots a free throw toward the end of the fourth quarter against La Salle Tuesday evening.