MOSES LAKE - The Moses Lake High School boys basketball team dropped a hard fought physical 72-52 game at home last night to the visiting Saxons from Ferris High School.

Despite the double-digit loss, the Chiefs coach John Hohman was pleased with the effort the team put forth.

"I thought the kids played a good game," he said. "I may not seem like it by the score ... but heck ... we were down by 24 points at the end of the third quarter and came back to get within 13."

Moses Lake found the going rough early as the team had to play the game short-handed. Starting point guard Jordan Chavez was injured 15 seconds into the contest, and center Bryce Perez was out sick with the flu.

Ferris got on the board first and went up 9-6 in the opene minutes, but the Chiefs Cliff Phillips drained a 3-point bucket to tie the game 9-9.

Back-to-back treys by the Saxons Cody Benzel pushed the score to 15-9 for Ferris. But a long-range jump shot from behind the arc by the Chiefs Kevin Bennett narrowed the gap to 15-12. Benzel was fouled on a 3-point shot on the next trip down court as the first quarter buzzer sounded, and went to the line and sank all three attempts to push the score to 18-12.

Phillips scored the first point of the second quarter, sinking 1-of-2 shots from the charity stripe to get Moses Lake within five, 18-13, but Ferris answered back with a 15-12 run to go up 33-27 at the break.

"I was not disappointed so to speak with our play in the first quarter. I thought we could have been a little more patient in our offensive sets," Hohman said. "But I thought we did a much better job of that in the second quarter."

The Chiefs matched the Saxons point for point, each scoring 15 in the quarter,  which was huge for the home team as Ferris sank four 3-point baskets and shot 94 percent from the free throw line.

The third quarter of action saw the game get out of hand for Moses Lake as the Chiefs fell behind 59-35.

Moses Lake, determined to make a game of it, went on a 15-4 run with two minutes left in the contest to get close the gap to 65-52. But Ferris wasn't about to lie down as the Saxons scored the final seven points of the game to win it going away, 72-52.

"We put ourselves in a position to win the game in the fourth quarter and almost pulled it out," Hohman said. "But we turned the ball over too many times. Had we scored on those possessions, the outcome might have been different."

Phillips led the way for the Chiefs with 14 points and four rebounds. Denis Ulyanchuk added 10 points and five boards, and Bennett and Jordan Garcia finished with nine points each.

Moses Lake is back in action Jan. 3 when the Chiefs travel to Post Falls for their last non-league game of the season.

"That's going to be a real test for us," Hohman said. "They are a very talented team and well coached."