MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake boys basketball team evened its record at 5-5 with Monday night’s win over Shade Park, defeating the Highlanders 77-69 in a non-league home matchup. 

“We were feeling good, we’ve been playing better over the last few weeks,” head coach Craig Groth said. “Kids have been growing and learning the offense, learning the principles on defense and coming together as a team. They’re doing a really good job at that.” 

After a slow start to the game, a few stands on the defensive end allowed Moses Lake to build a lead toward the end of the first quarter. 

“After the first few minutes, then we got it settled down,” Groth said. “We got into our rhythm and started a little bit of scoring, and we just kind of fed off each other; get a couple stops, get out in transition and run a little bit. Take advantage of opportunities when we had them.” 

Groth attributed Moses Lake’s balanced scoring efforts to maintaining a consistent lead throughout the remainder of the game. Five Mavs ended the game in double figures. 

Balanced scoring has been a key factor for the Mavericks as of late, winners of four of their last six games. 

“We got a lot of good defensive stops when we needed them, and then when we were scoring, we weren’t necessarily relying on one guy to score,” he said. “We had a real good balance of scoring – if one of the kids was getting shut down, we had enough trust to swing the ball around and give it to the next guy.”  

Holding a three-to-seven-point advantage throughout the bulk of the game, key stops on the defensive end allowed Moses Lake to pull out the eight-point win Monday night. 

“We buckled down defensively, had stops when we needed to get stops,” Groth said. “They had an opportunity, and we were able to get good contests on their shots, able to secure the rebound and get it and go. We also had a couple big plays where we were able to get a steal in transition and convert that into easy points. That allowed us to get a little bit more of a buffer zone.” 

Junior Brady Jay led Moses Lake with 20 points, followed by senior Pavel Beloborodyy’s 19 points. Juniors Grady Walker and Tyce Miller both finished the game with 13 points, while junior Kyre Wiltbank recorded 12 points in the win. 

“We’re doing a really good job with our ball movement, player movement,” Groth said. “They’re settling down and realizing, ‘I don’t have to score a million points right away.’ If something doesn’t go right for two minutes, it’s not the end of the world. If we do something real good for a solid stretch, we’re not able to let the other team back in. We’re doing a much better job of playing even, playing balanced and coming together, working with our strengths and feeding off of each other.” 

After defeating Ephrata in the season opener, Moses Lake dropped games against Kennewick, Ferris and Ellensburg. Since the 1-3 start, Groth said on-court trust has been a key factor in Moses Lake being able to even its record. 

“The guys have trusted in each other, they’ve been trusting the system,” Groth said. “And, the hard work. Between those two things, the effort and trust, the guys are really coming together ... We’re able to get in rhythms a lot better; growing as a team with an offensive system, a defensive system.” 

The Mavericks host Eastmont on Jan. 10. Tip-off is at 7 p.m. 

    Moses Lake junior Brady Jay, right, led the Mavericks with 20 points in Monday’s win over Shadle Park.
  

    Moses Lake junior Grady Walker (15) attempts to lay the ball in for a basket during Monday’s game against Shadle Park. Walker scored 13 points in the win.
  

    Moses Lake junior Kyre Wiltbank (1) brings the ball up the floor against Shadle Park on Monday.