MOSES LAKE - It's a battle that's sure to come down to the last second as two offensive mined teams take the floor Saturday at Shadle Park High School.

Moses Lake Christian Academy (MLCA) will be looking to avenge an early season loss to Almira/Coulee-Hartline (ACH) as the two teams match up in a loser out game in the first round of the 1B regional tournament.

The action gets underway at 6 p.m.

"This game is a rematch of a mid-January contest," coach Bryce McPartland said. "ACH got us pretty good in the first go around, beating us 67-33. They're a more established veteran team and we saw that on display in that game."

The Lions (8-0, 19-3) and Warriors (8-0, 18-5) were both undefeated in league play and have just five losses on the year between both teams, so this meeting should be a real donnybrook.

McPartland said he had to make some adjustments the first go round with ACH, as the Warriors are a much tougher team than most they've gone up against this year.

"We found our typical method of play would require some tweaking when faced with talented, experienced guards such as those that ACH has," he said. "Madeline Isaak and Carly Martin are as quality a pair of guards as there are in the central Columbia Basin regardless of classification. They presented a lot of problems for us."

ACH is a member of the 1B Bi-County Conference, which McPartland said is a tougher league than the Central Washington 1B that the Lions belong to.

"We did however, go 4-0 against the second and third teams from the Bi-County, as did ACH," he said. "But their non-league schedule was more rugged than ours."

The Lions attack will be led by freshman McKenna Walker who averages 22 points, nine rebounds and six assists per game. Anna Yarbro (9 points and 7 rebounds per game), Madison Yamane (7.7 ppg.), Maddie Tudor (5.9 ppg) and Taylor Yamane (4.6 points and 3.4 steals per game) are also expected to be leaned on heavily in the contest.

"McKenna had her worst game of the season against ACH. That was due in large part to foul trouble that took her out of the game. I don't necessarily expect a repeat of that," McPartland said. "Anna has come on very strong since that first game (against ACH). I think she's starting to find her niche on the team, averaging about 12 points per game in the past 10 games or so. Maddie Tudor has also been a late season spark, averaging over 10 points per game in her last 5 games. Madison exhibited a late season fade that we still don't quite understand, but we'll need her engaged in the game Saturday to have any chance of success."

ACH will be led by Madeline Isaak, Carly Martin, Kodi Noggles and Miranda Porterfield. McPartland said the Warriors also have a handful of very solid role players in the Streeter twins, Alison Fox, and Brynna Stevens.

"They have talent all over the floor and will be a challenge to keep up with them," he said." I don't know if our players are ready for that. Our girls are going to pay attention to the details and do all the little things necessary to give us a chance."

The Warriors, a more experienced team, will start four seniors and one junior Saturday. MLCA will put a combination that will inevitably include at least two 8th graders and a freshman on the floor McPartland said.

"Their juniors and seniors have seen a lot in their tenure and they're very good at what they do. So it will take a tremendous amount of focus for us in this game," he said. "That being said, having had the past several weeks to increase our experience level over where it was January 14, has been critical as we approach this game. I think our players have a better understanding of who they are and what they are capable of than they did in the first game, and it's going to be important that they exhibit that."

McPartland said the Lions greatest challenge will be more than understanding it's going to take four complete quarters of error free play to beat a team of ACH's caliber.

"We played a number of teams this year, that quite frankly, quit after we took big leads on them. ACH is not that kind of team," McPartland said. "I expect this game to be a challenge, but certainly not an insurmountable. If we do what we are capable of and finish possessions on both ends of the floor and get stops on the defensive end, we just might be able to compete.

And if we can compete, focus and keep it close down the stretch, we're going to have as good a collection of offensive players on the floor as anyone does and maybe we'll have a shot to win it."