The Moses Lake High School girls basketball team will be playing in their first game of the state tournament on March 2 at the Tacoma Dome.

Despite not hitting all their goals this season, Head Coach Matt Strophy said the team is excited and humbled to be playing at state but wants to do more than just walk in the door.

Strophy wanted to highlight the work ethic of the girls and the focus they have shown throughout the season. He said they have remained focused and are peaking at the right time, while still learning and growing every day they show up.

He mentioned that some girls on the team have never experienced going to a state tournament so they want to make it fun while remembering the competition is serious.

“It's still a business trip and our business is the game of basketball. So, our goal is to win this game and not worry about what happens the following day. Just worry about the game that's in front of us, which happens to be the Emerald Ridge Jaguars and they are definitely a formidable team. We have seen them on film a handful of times and they are a team that is built for a state tournament,” said Strophy.

Strophy explained that when he said Emerald Ridge was a team built for a state tournament, he meant that they play physically and aggressively. He noted that state tournament games are on a schedule, and in order to stay on that schedule, referees may let some of the smaller things go, such as fouls or traveling, that can happen when playing really aggressively or physically.

“And those little things are the types of things that give us trouble. And so if Emerald Ridge likes to play a little more of that playground physical type of Spokane basketball. We saw over Christmas break when we hosted some Spokane schools, they played physically and when things don't get called in our favor, it affects us. We're more of a finesse fundamental team as opposed to a pound and ground and ‘if I foul you every time let's see what the referees call’, we don't play like that. Emerald Ridge is aggressive. They are aggressive offensively, they're aggressive defensively, they press a lot,” Strophy said.

“And from our Eisenhower games, that doesn't always bode well for us. We've gotten better and we need to continue that but they're going to do that same type of press that we saw from Eisenhower, and there are going to be that same physical aggressive style of play in the half court too. So we just have to rely on our knowledge and ability in the game and not let things that are out of our control bother us. And so we have a lot of respect. I don't think fear, but I think we have a lot of respect for Emerald Ridge and what they bring to the table but I know that girls aren't excited just to get to the dome. They want to do more than just walk in the door,” said Strophy.

Strophy said his team’s biggest asset is defense and he feels that will be a big strength in the state tournament.

He also wanted to highlight the leadership that senior Meagan Karstetter and junior Teagan Wiltbank have shown throughout the season and especially as they go into the state tournament for the younger players on the team.

The game against Emerald Ridge, which is at 9 a.m. on March 2, is a loser out game. Whoever wins, goes on to play March 3 in the tournament.

Strophy wanted to thank all the coaches, parents and community members over the last decade that have supported him and the team and allowed them to be able to come this far and represent the Chiefs with honor.

“After the Olympia win, on the way home, we're kind of talking about ‘gosh, this might be the last time we wear chiefs on the chest’ and so we always talked about legacy and I think that will be one that I think that our girls are doing our legacy proud and we represent the Chiefs well,” Strophy said.