MOSES LAKE – The Mavericks suffered their first loss of the season on the road against Sunnyside on Saturday, a 62-59 double overtime loss to the Grizzlies.

The 3-1 start to the year is the best start since the Mavs also went 3-1 to begin the 2015-16 season, according to the team’s MaxPreps page.

“It does feel good for these guys to get the season rolling in the right direction,” Moses Lake Head Coach Jake Hunt said. “It’s really good for their confidence.”

All three of Moses Lake’s wins have come at home; a 68-64 win over Walla Walla; a 58-56 win over Ellensburg; and a 68-62 win over Wenatchee.

“We’re playing good at home, we just have to figure out how to win away,” junior point guard Kyson Thomas said. “Just get tougher and stuff like that.”

Moses Lake had built up a 10-point lead going into halftime against Sunnyside, but the Grizzlies began to come alive in the second half.

“We came out super hot in the first quarter and built a decent lead in the second quarter,” Hunt said. “Third quarter, we knew their player Brent Maldonado was going to get going. He hit four threes that third quarter, and once he got going it was hard to control him.”

“It was a close game, we just shot ourselves out of the game,” Thomas said.

With a smaller team, the Mavericks have had trouble grabbing boards against opponents throughout the first four games. The Grizzlies out-rebounded Moses Lake 45-36 – including an 18-7 ratio on offensive rebounds that led to 15 second-chance points – and were out-rebounded by Wenatchee 35-27.

“We call it FHG – find, hit, give,” Hunt said. “We’re a smaller team, kind of athletic, but just so small that we have to take care of the boards. That’s a huge part of basketball.”

Thomas said the team’s agility and overall athleticism is their strength, which leads to the press that Hunt employs in his players. Moses Lake’s 1-2-2 press has led to 48 combined turnovers in its past three outings.

“We’ve done really well with that and gotten teams out of rhythm,” Hunt said. “Made the game chaotic, and it’s led the into how we want to play with pushing the pace.”

The Mavericks have two weeks remaining of non-league contests before they get into the full swing of Columbia Basin Big 9 play.

“We know guys so well, especially the seniors and the juniors,” Hunt said. “We’ve played against these guys, and a lot of them are multi-sport athletes, so you’ve played against them in football and baseball. The scouting report is much more in-depth.”

Over the holiday break, Moses Lake will travel to Vancouver for the Clark County Holiday Invitational. The tournament is set up in two brackets of eight teams from Washington and Oregon.

“It should be a really good experience for the guys,” Hunt said. “They haven’t been able to travel since the pandemic, so it should be a good experience.”

Ian Bivona may be reached at ibivona@columbiabasinherald.com.

Box score:

Moses Lake 22-7-11-11-4-4 59

Sunnyside 12-6-23-10-4-7 62