MOSES LAKE — It might be one of the oldest sports adages.

“It’s not how you start, but how you finish.”

Moses Lake girls basketball exemplified that saying Saturday night. Chiawana five-star prospect Talia von Oelhoffen scored 16 of her game-high 34 points in the first quarter and the Riverhawks opened the game on a 14-0 run. However, Moses Lake methodically trimmed the deficit and used a balanced effort to win 54-50.

“I think we were all a little nervous because we knew it would be a tough game and they’ve got great players — Chiawana’s a great team,” junior guard Anna Olson said. “Our coaches kind of chewed our butt and we knew we were a great team too so we came together, we had a great talk in the locker room and we started hitting shots.”

Von Oelhoffen — a junior transfer from Tri-Cities prep with offers from UConn, Stanford, Oregon State, UCLA and Oklahoma — started the game as advertised, hitting three consecutive 3-pointers. The intelligence Moses Lake head coach Matt Strophy received on the 6-foot-1 wing was to let her pull up and shoot, rather than let her drive.

That plan was quickly adjusted.

“Initially, what we were told in the scouting report – and we didn’t have any film on her — give her a little bit of space because she’s much better going to the rim than she is pulling up,” Strophy said. “Well, now she’s pretty good at both because we laid off and then she pulled up and shot.

“We just made that adjustment to say, OK, now don’t give her that space and we’ve got to then rotate no matter who it was, somebody in the middle of the key to be that helper person, and it took us a while to get that part figured out.”

Camille Carpenter was tasked as the primary defender while Meagan Karstetter provided a defensive anchor to bother any drives to the basket.

Moses Lake’s offense came in fits and starts throughout the first half. A short Carpenter jumper broke a six-minute scoring drought to start the game. Olivia Waites provided needed scoring off the bench, finishing with 12 points and a corner 3 in the fourth quarter that gave the Chiefs a four-point lead with two minutes remaining.

“Olivia Waites did a great job coming in off the bench knocking down some very key shots and playing with a cool head on her shoulders,” Strophy said.

Madisyn Clark arrived in the fourth quarter, stepping into a 3-pointer to cut Chiawana’s lead to one point before dishing an underneath pass to Karstetter to give Moses Lake its first lead of the game. Clark later drilled a corner 3 to break a 47-47 tie and converted a lay-up through contact to build a five-point lead, which ostensibly closed the game.

It’s still early, but Moses Lake now boasts wins over — according to the Seattle Times — the sixth-ranked team in Class 4A Chiawana and the second-ranked team in 3A Mt. Spokane; both wins came after trailing by double digits.

“We knew coming in how much work we put in over the summer,” Olson said. “We purposefully made a really tough nonleague schedule because we want to challenge ourselves and surprise people throughout the season and I think we have really come together.

“We have great team chemistry and I think it should change the way people view us.”

Score by quarters

C 21 9 7 13 — 50

ML 6 12 15 21 — 54

Saturday scores

Toppenish 52, Ephrata 50

Selah 65, Othello 53

Warden 64, Naches Valley 24

Highland 57, Wahluke 20

LRS 62, Riverside 46

ACH 63, Columbia 10

Friday scores

Moses Lake 58, Post Falls 47

Prosser 63, Ephrata 57

Toppenish 47, Othello 35

Warden 46, Granger 24

Goldendale 39, Wahluke 11

Columbia 46, LRS 35

Boys basketball

Saturday scores

Chiawana 96, Moses Lake 65

Toppenish 64, Ephrata 59

Selah 61, Othello 46

East Valley 79, Quincy 59

Naches Valley 81, Warden 40

Wahluke 75, Highland 38

LRS 51, Riverside 42

ACH 59, Columbia 17

Friday scores

University 89, Moses Lake 73

Ephrata 67, Prosser 41

Toppenish 81, Othello 44

Selah 65, Quincy 23

Granger 66, Warden 43

Wahluke 90, Goldendale 49

LRS 51, Columbia 38

Men’s basketball

Big Bend 89, Gonzaga Club 83

Everett 92, Big Bend 73

Tacoma 84, Big Bend 80

Women’s basketball

Lower Columbia 73, Big Bend 58

Big Bend 65, Skagit Valley 54

Big Bend 94, Everett 79