MOSES LAKE — Moses Lake graduate Kelly Sutherland helped the Moses Lake Chiefs girls basketball team to back-to-back state tournament appearances in her junior and senior seasons.

Now Sutherland will take her skills on the court to Bellevue Community College (BCC).

Sutherland signed a national letter of intent to play basketball next year for the Bulldogs.

After growing up in the Columbia Basin, Sutherland decided she wanted to play college basketball west of the Cascade Mountains.

“I wanted to go to the Seattle area,” she said. “I wanted to go somewhere bigger. It’s far away from home, but not too far.”

Sutherland said she knew BCC was the right pick for her after seeing her future coaches and teammates on the basketball court.

“I watched a couple of games and I liked their style of play,” she said. “I liked how the coaches coached and it looked like a team I could fit in with.”

Sutherland met some of her future teammates during a visit to the school and she said she is confident she made the right decision choosing BCC.

“They are really open-minded,” she said. “They are really nice and excited to have me playing with them.”

Although Sutherland will take her game to the collegiate level, she said she will always remember her time and teammates at Moses Lake.

“It definitely will be a memory I will never forget,” she said of playing for the Chiefs. “Ever since we were little, we played (together). We are all best friends.”

While Sutherland will miss her high school teammates, she is excited to take her game to the next level.

“It means a lot to me,” she said of playing basketball in college. “I knew if I didn’t play I would miss it a lot.”