MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake Mavericks basketball team fell 45-60 in their home opener against a tough Ferris team Friday evening. The Mavs hope to bounce back from this loss as they prepare for their first games of league play. 

“We’ve got our third game in four days, so a little bit tired and I thought we found energy at times, but we’ve got to be consistent with that,” said Mavs head coach Matt Strophy. 

The Mavs gained a bit of a lead in the first quarter, but Ferris quickly caught up and took the lead, ending the quarter 11-14. MLHS struggled in the second quarter, only scoring five as their opponent scored 12 to finish the half at 16-26. 

The Mavs had renewed strength to end the third quarter, outscoring Ferris for the first time in the matchup. Moses Lake worked to keep up in the fourth quarter, but fell 45-60. 

Addyson Burns, one of the Mavs’ senior captains, made some great contributions for the team, Strophy said, being aggressive on offense and leading the team in scoring with nine points and working as a defensive anchor throughout the game. 

“I just love the annoyingly gritty nature that the girls have,” he said. “We picked up a little pressure there toward the end of the game, made a little bit of a run, we just didn’t have an answer for (Ferris’s JuJu Lewis) and (Mateia Eschenbacher).” 

This game in many ways exposed Moses Lake’s weak spots, which the coach said was a good thing to experience early in the season. The Mavs can look at this game as they move forward and improve upon the aspects where they struggled. 

One such takeaway is the importance of effective communication throughout a matchup. He said that the players did it in bits and pieces during the game against Ferris, but keeping that communication consistent will make all the difference, especially as they see more players like Eschenbacher, whose spin moves proved effective against the Mavs when they were unable to communicate with each other. 

Even with the losses at home against Ferris and on the road 44-56 against Kennewick the day prior, the Mavericks are maintaining a positive energy, said Strophy. The teams have already started to take what they can learn from these last two games and are applying it as they get ready for the upcoming league games. 

“Just the exploratory nature of nonconference teams; I know everybody wants to win every game and my focal point is finding opponents like Kennewick, like Ferris, that are going to make us work for everything,” he said. “Then that way when we get into a league opponent, we have been prepared to the best of our ability.”

Strophy said the first week of competition was tough for the Mavs with how close they had to play each of their games and that this will continue through the early weeks of the year. With some rest over the weekend, the team should be ready to take on their next three matchups. 

“Rest, hydration and it’s okay to sit down on your phone and watch film instead of watching reels,” he said. 

The Mavs will remain at home Tuesday as they face off against another nonleague opponent in Hanford at 7 p.m. The Mavs will then face their first league opponents this weekend in Wenatchee and Eisenhower. 

BOX SCORE:  

MLHS: 11-5-14-15: 45 

FRRS: 14-12-13-21: 60

    Yaretzi Madrigal, a sophomore from MLHS, sprints toward the net during Friday’s matchup against Ferris.
  

    Moses Lake senior Addyson Burns pushes toward the hoop for a layup with pressure from the Ferris defense.
  

    MLHS senior Alivia Johnson makes an offensive push toward the net with pressure from JuJu Lewis of Ferris.
  

    Sophomore Ella Wiltbank from the Mavs posts up on defense against Ferris’s JuJu Lewis during Friday’s matchup.