MOSES LAKE — Despite a cold night of shooting on the floor, the MLCA/CCS Lions were able to defeat Waterville-Mansfield 40-39 to improve to 3-1 on the year.

Key defensive plays down the stretch allowed the Lions to walk away with a win Friday night.

“The boys just didn’t panic,” MLCA/CCS head coach Emerson Ferguson said. “They’ve been in these situations before – that’s probably what it was, just experience.”

MLCA/CCS lead 31-25 going into the fourth quarter, opening the final frame with a steal and layup in transition by freshman Max Gulenko. From then, the Shockers went on an 11-3 run to tie the game at 36 with under three minutes remaining. 

“It’s just a lack of mental focus and execution, which is something we really wanted to focus on,” Ferguson said. “We just didn’t do it tonight. We didn’t make the smart plays at times when we needed them to really put that team away. When you do that you give a team confidence and allow them to crawl their way back in.”

The Waterville-Mansfield run ended with a floater by sophomore James Robertson with 1:50 remaining, giving the Lions the lead back with 38-36 showing on the scoreboard. Waterville-Mansfield got within one on a free throw, but a basket by Lion senior Caleb Jones pushed the MLCA/CCS lead to 40-37 with 37.8 seconds left.

Senior Jonah Robertson stole the ball on the nest Shocker possession, giving the Lions the ball with 14.2 seconds remaining.

“I grabbed the steal and I was just thinking about the clock,” Robertson said. “I wasn’t thinking about scoring or anything, I just thought ‘Pull the ball out and hold the ball before something else happens.’”

After the Lions missed two free throws late in the game, Waterville-Mansfield got the ball back with eight seconds left but went for a layup right before the buzzer, ending the game in a 40-39 Lion victory.

Friday’s 40 points by the Lions were a season-low, coming into the game after putting up 71 points against Oakesdale on Nov. 30, 51 against Manson on Dec. 5 and 71 against Soap Lake on Wednesday.

“We underestimated Waterville’s defense; they are a very solid defensive team,” Ferguson said. “The standard that we set, and the effort that we expect — I don’t think we really matched that tonight.”

MLCA/CCS led the Shockers 16-15 with 1:40 on the clock in the second quarter, then managed to close out the half on a 7-0 run to go into the halftime locker room up 23-15.

The third quarter opened with a steal by Robertson and a layup in transition.

“We really stepped it up on defense, and we turned our defense into offense,” Robertson said. “That’s how we kept the points ahead.”

From the opening layup, MLCA/CCS only managed to score three more points in the third quarter; a free throw by Jones and a basket by Gulenko.

“It was great because it showed us what we are capable of doing, and the expectation was that they would continue that and build on the lead,” Ferguson said. “We started hot — we got a steal, we got a lay-in, and got a deflection — and then we just made bonehead plays, and that’s what allowed them to stay in it.”

The Shockers took advantage of opportunities at the free throw line and Lion turnovers to outscore MLCA/CCS 10-6 in the third quarter.

“We were holding the ball too much, not moving the ball around,” Robertson said. “Some bad shot selection.”

Robertson led the Lions with 11 points, followed by Jones and sophomore Dennis Gulenko who tied with seven each. Sophomore Johnny Ferguson and Max Gulenko tied with six points apiece.

Now at 3-1 overall, the Lions picked up their second league win with Friday’s defeat of Waterville-Mansfield; the first came Wednesday against Soap Lake, a 71-57 win over the Eagles.

“That was a huge game against Soap Lake, a very good Soap Lake team,” Ferguson said. “It was a huge game, big win, so the boys were riding pretty high. I think that might have been a little bit of the lack of mental focus tonight; they were still riding that.”

After Saturday’s game against Entiat, the Lions host Bridgeport on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.

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

Box score

W-M: 8-7-10-14 39
MLCA/CCS: 8-15-8-9 40

    MLCA/CCS sophomore James Robertson (24) moves with the ball under the rim against Waterville-Mansfield Friday.
  

    MLCA/CCS senior Caleb Jones (50) controls the opening tip against Waterville-Mansfield.
  

    MLCA/CCS sophomore Johnny Ferguson, holding the ball, leaps up while attempting a layup.