MOSES LAKE - A last second buzzer beater by Walla Walla's Nick Peasley ended the Moses Lake High School boys basketball season Friday.

Peasley sank a contested 18-foot jump shot as time expired to give the Blue Devils a 56-54 win and hand the Chiefs a first round loss at home in the 4A District 5/6 tournament.

"That was gut-wrenching," coach John Hohman said. "But we didn't play very well really. We got in a hole early and couldn't dig our selves out and that was the difference in the ball game."

Moses Lake to a 10-7 lead at the end of the first quarter, but was outscored by Walla Walla 22-10 in the second and trailed 29-22 at the half.

The Chiefs lost ground in the third quarter and fell behind 42-31. But a 23-11 run by Moses Lake tied the game 54-54 with seconds on the clock.

The Chiefs were down by were down by three points with less than 30 seconds to go in the game. But Bryce Perez hauled in  a rebound off a missed shot by Moses Lake and banked in a 3-pointer to tie the game.

"I immediately called a timeout to set our defense with about seven seconds left," Hohman said. "But the kid for Walla Walla brought the ball down court and pulled up for a tough shot from just inside the arc and drained it at the buzzer for the win."

Hohman said the Chiefs had every chance to win the game in the last two and a half minutes of the contest, but missed too many shots from the field and the free throw line down the stretch.

"We shot 44 percent from the floor and made only 56 percent from the line in the second half of the game,"  he said. "And we were terrible from behind the arc, hitting only one of 13 attempts."

Bryce Perez led Moses Lake with 20 points and nine rebounds.  Cliff Phillips added 10 and Cliff Bennett finished with eight points for the Chiefs.

Peasley had a total of 17 points and eight rebounds for the Blue Devils.

Despite the disappointing loss, Hohman said the season was an overall success.

"We had good senior leadership from our captains Bryce Perez, Cliff Phillips and Kevin Bennett," he said. "I really enjoyed the guys ... they are a fun group to be around. We didn't have a lot of depth experience-wise on the team this year so a lot of younger guys got significant varsity minutes.  And that gives us something to build on and make us stronger next year."

That is however, Hohman said, if the guys are willing to put in the needed effort in the off season to make themselves better.

"It will all depend on how hard they work," he said. "If they put in time in the weight room and on the court, it will make a world of difference."