MOSES LAKE — On the playgrounds it’s called a “wolf.”

Tuesday night, it was just a clutch defensive play.

Moses Lake point guard Madisyn Clark nabbed a rebound late in the fourth quarter and looked to start the fast break until Kamiakin senior guard Salee Westermeyer poked the ball free from behind and scored to make it a two-possession game, 56-52.

The Chiefs could not mount one more rally against the Class 3A state tournament hopeful and lost 58-52.

“I just want to keep encouraging the girls and keep telling them next game and as long as we get better than we’ll be good,” senior guard Kiara McPartland said.

Moses Lake broke Kamiakin’s pressure defense early and often in the first quarter, which led to lay-ups and open jump shots. Clark scored nine of her team-high 18 points in the first quarter and sunk a pair of free throws to put the Chiefs ahead by double digits, 17-7. Alexa Hazel and Farrya Sandmann exchanged 3-pointers to close the quarter, maintaining the 10-point cushion.

Kamiakin, a team that finished fourth in state last season, showed why it is a tournament favorite again this season with defense that held Moses Lake without a field goal in the second quarter. The Braves started the quarter on a 12-1 run and a lay-up by Symone Brown pulled the Braves ahead for the first time in the game, 22-21.

Undeterred after halftime, Moses Lake returned to the balanced scoring of the first quarter and evened the game, 39-39, at the end of three. Kendyl Crum and Clark scored four points apiece as six different players added to the point total in the third quarter.

The Chiefs’ activity level kept Brown and Butler University commit Ouomou Toure in foul trouble. Toure picked up her fourth foul with just under 20 seconds to play in the third and would later foul out with over three minutes to play in the game after Anna Olson drew a charge. Brown fouled out on Kamiakin’s next defensive possession.

Toure, one of the most potent scorers in the Mid Columbia Conference, was held to 14 points.

“We just wanted to limit her opportunities to the basket and we wanted to just not foul her because we know she likes that body contact,” McPartland said. “We tried to give her some space and then we tried to double her so she didn’t know what to do.”

Box score

ML — 20 4 15 13 52

K — 10 17 12 19 58

Moses Lake: Madisyn Clark 18, Kiara McPartland 10, Anna Olson 7, Camille Carpenter 6, Kendyl Crum 4, Farrya Sandmann 4, Brecka Erdmann 2, Victoria Hernandez 1