MOSES LAKE – Like many local teams, the Moses Lake Christian Academy/Covenant Christian School Lady Lions spent part of their winter break on the basketball court. The Lions traveled over the Cascades to play in the Mount Vernon Christian Holiday Hoops Tournament last week.

MLCA/CCS Head Coach Josh Kast said the tournament was a great experience for the team, who have high expectations for this season.

“I think it’s really key to try and challenge your teams as much as possible in our non-league schedule, and that’s what we’ve done,” Kast said. “We believe that we’re a top-tier team in our classification, so we want to do everything we can to challenge ourselves in the preseason or non-league play.”

Entering the tournament with a 6-1 record after a season-opening loss to Oakesdale, the Lions have powered through their early-season non-league schedule.

“We were pretty confident, we had a pretty tough first half of the year as far as getting challenging non-league games that will give us a test night in and night out,” Kast said. “The girls, for the most part, did a really good job of getting through that.”

The first game of the three-day tournament came against Neah Bay, where the Red Devils’ Allie Greene hit eight three-pointers to take down MLCA/CCS 66-36. Kali and Makiya Kast led the Lions in scoring with 14 and 10 points, respectively.

“They just played at a higher level that night, they ended up setting the tempo, speed of the game,” Josh Kast said. “Kind of like what we like to do, but they ended up doing it to us and we need to do a better job of stopping transition. That’s where it got away from us.”

Even though the game got away from the Lions against Neah Bay, Kast said he believes the circumstances will be different if the two squads were to meet again. Neah Bay was the state runner-up in 2022 to Mount Vernon Christian.

“It was quick, and just kind of snowballed after that,” Josh Kast said. “I still like our chances, we may match up with them in the future – I don’t think it’s going to be the same type of game.”

Even with the opening-round loss, MLCA/CCS still had two games to go, where they defeated

Wahkiakum 47-37 and Lummi Nation 60-40.

“It’s obviously not the outcome that we were looking for going into it, but the next best thing is going two-of-three,” Josh Kast said.

With the two wins, MLCA/CCS went on to take fifth place in the MVC Holiday Hoops Tournament after its win over Lummi Nation.

“I thought they responded well as a team and lifted each other up,” Josh Kast said. “We’re there to have some fun together as a team as well.”

Against Lummi Nation, senior Makiya Kast converted on seven of 11 three-point attempts en route to a 22-point outing.

“She’s worked really hard on becoming a good three-point shooter,” Josh Kast said. “She’s hit five in a game before.”

After the Lions allowed a big game against Neah Bay they strapped down defensively against Wahkiakum and Lummi Nation, which Kast credited to senior McKenna Meise.

“She’s the kind of player where if we need someone to get a stop, or if we need to shut somebody down, that’s who we usually go to,” Josh Kast said. “... She has a motor, and she’s the girl we depend on to shut somebody down defensively.”

Following a Tuesday night matchup against Sunnyside Christian, the Lions return to the court against Pateros on Thursday. Tip-off is at 6 p.m.

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