MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake High School girls basketball team took an early lead, lost it, fought to overcome a second-half deficit but fell short, losing their season opener to Kennewick, 55-49 on Friday.

Head Coach Matt Strophy said it had the characteristics of a first game of the year. 

“Early on, they created the pace instead of us controlling the pace. So they sped us up, and we want to dictate that,” Strophy said. “I don’t mind if we go fast, but we have to want to go fast, not them make us go that way. They made us do a lot of things we didn’t want to do.”

    Madison Bond (32) squares up to take the shot in Moses Lake’s 55-49 loss to Kennewick.
  

The Mavericks scored the first five points of the game and had a 14-9 lead at the end of the first quarter. But the Lions went on a 14-4 run early in the second quarter and took their first lead, 19-18, with 3:47 left in the first half. 

“The girls now have seen a little bit of intensity in a game. So (in) our practices, we need to kick it up a notch. Because we felt like we might have been intense and working hard - we need to work that hard. And that way we’ll be better prepared,” Strophy said. 

The Mavericks’ response to losing the lead, and the Lions’ aggressive defense, was encouraging, he said.

“We got frustrated, but we didn’t get down,” he said. “And I think that’s a big thing for game one, because we have a tough non-conference schedule. And we could easily lose some games and the girls could be frustrated. They stayed in it on both sides of the ball and on the bench, and I really like to see that out of our girls.”

Kennewick had a 28-20 lead at the end of the first half, and pushed it to 12 points midway through the third quarter. The Mavericks fought back, cutting the lead to 40-36 at the end of the third quarter. A three-pointer by Madison Bond got Moses Lake within four, 53-49, but Kennewick scored a late basket to take the 55-49 win.

Strophy credited Bond for both her offense and her defense. Kennewick built its first-half comeback, in part, on four three-point baskets by Dylyn Dress. The coaches assigned Bond the task of shutting Dress down, and Bond held her to one basket in the second half. Strophy also credited the play of guard Lexi Cox, both on offense and defense.

“A little adjustment, I think, kept us around,” he said. “We just need to be able to take care of the ball.” 

    Lexi Cox (14) pushes the ball up the floor in the season opener for Moses Lake Nov. 30.
  

The Mavericks play 11 games in December, he said, and the coaches plan to use that as a learning experience for the Columbia Basin Big 9 season.

“We’ve got to shift some kids around. We’ve got a couple nagging injuries, a couple of illnesses hanging around. So we’ve got to shift some people to see what’s going to work where,” he said. “We still have that to work on. Some execution, when to attack and when to shoot and when not to. So the best way to gain experience is just to play,” he said.

The Mavericks play Walla Walla on Tuesday in Moses Lake. Game time is 7 p.m.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at [email protected].

Box score

Mavs: 14-6-16-13 49
Lions: 9-19-12-15 55