Mead 61, Moses Lake 46

MOSES LAKE — After battling throughout the game with Mead, Vanessa Brischle's buzzer-beating 3-pointer to put Moses Lake up 42-33 at the end of the third quarter appeared to give the Lady Chiefs control of Tuesday's regional playoff game.

Those appearances were dispelled with shocking severity, as Mead outscored Moses Lake 28-4 in the fourth quarter to send the Lady Chiefs into the consolation rounds of the 4A Regional tournament.

"Usually in a playoff atmosphere where things are slower, a 9-point lead is pretty solid," said Moses Lake coach Matt Strophy. "A total lack of offense in the fourth quarter is what cost us."

The Lady Chiefs first and only field goal of the quarter came with seven seconds remaining in the game, after the contest was all but in the books. Moses Lake, which for the first three quarters used crisp passing and aggressive play to neutralize Mead's defensive pressure, simply collapsed in the fourth quarter.

"Unfortunately with that 9-point lead after the third quarter, we became too passive," said Strophy. "They picked up their defensive pressure, and it caused some turnovers and bad decisions."

While the entire fourth quarter is one the Lady Chiefs would soon prefer to forget, there was one key sequence early in the quarter that seemed to swing the momentum in Mead's favor for good.

With the Lady Chiefs leading 44-41, Moses Lake was called for a defensive foul against Mead's Alysha Green. After the Lady Chief protested the call, the referees assessed Moses Lake with a technical foul as well. As the home crowd voiced their disapproval, Green stepped to the line and sank all four free throws to give the Panthers a 45-44 lead.

From there, Mead's Kelly Valentine was fouled while making a shot, converting both the hoop and the free throw to push the Mead lead to four.

"We can't afford to have a six-point swing," said the frustrated Moses Lake coach. "Those are killers. We can't afford to have a 6-point swing and expect to hang around."

Moses Lake was hit with a charge call on their next possession, and Mead scored again to build a 50-44 lead with 2:31 to play. Moses Lake was unable to mount any sort of a comeback.

Earlier in the contest, the teams went back and forth in an exciting manner, stringing together scoring runs one after another. Mead opened the game with a 7-2 lead, but Moses Lake gathered themselves and outscored the Panthers 10-2 in the final four minutes of the first quarter to take a 12-9 lead.

Mead scored the first 7 points of the second quarter to take a 16-12 lead, but Moses Lake responded with three straight scores to regain an 18-16 lead. Moses Lake pieced together a 6-2 run at the end of the half to take 30-26 lead into the locker room, and added to their lead in the third quarter.

While Moses Lake has for much of the season depended on the inside play of Carly and Ann Noyes, Mead was very effective in containing the duo and shutting down Moses Lake's high-low offensive schemes.

"That made it tough on us," said Strophy of Mead's play on defense.

With the post game struggling, Marielle McKean stepped up her play against the Panthers. The Lady Chiefs' senior attacked the Mead defense with drives to the basket and tough play down low to lead Moses Lake with 14 points. Brischle scored 9 points for the Lady Chiefs, while Carly Noyes and Ashley McKean each had 7 points.

For Mead, four players reached double figures, including a game-high 18 from Kami Clark and16 from Green.

With the loss, Moses Lake will next face Wenatchee in a loser-out game Friday in Kennewick. The game will be played at 5:30 p.m. in the Toyota Center. Wenatchee was a 68-36 loser to University Tuesday night.

"I just told the girls in the locker room, 'our backs are against the wall," said Strophy. "We got to win three before we lose one."

Last week, Moses Lake defeated Walla Walla 51-48 in overtime to reach their first ever league championship game. In the title game, a rematch with Pasco, Moses Lake was defeated 47-45 in overtime on a Pasco buzzer-beater. In the game with Pasco, Carly Noyes led Moses Lake with 14 points and 12 rebounds.