Lions seize win, remain undefeated
CALEB PEREZ | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 4 months, 2 weeks AGO
Lions junior Max Gulenko runs up to the hoop and makes a dunk during Monday’s game against Waitsburg. Gulenko said the team finds success when it plays strong and fast from the very beginning.
CALEB PEREZ/COLUMBIA BASIN HERALD
Senior Johnny Ferguson from MLCA/CCS dunks the ball for the second possession in a row during Monday’s victory over Waitsburg.
MLCA/CCS senior James Robertson puts up a defensive stance to prevent Waitsburg from scoring in Monday’s matchup.
Lions junior Treyson Kast gets ready to go for the layup against Waitsburg on Monday.
Lions senior Dennis Gulenko shoots for two with pressure from Waitsburg during the final quarter on Monday.
MLCA/CCS junior Kevin Jorgenson looks for an open teammate to pass the ball over to during Monday’s game against Waitsburg.
MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake Christian Academy/Covenant Christian School Lions (9-0) basketball team added another win to their undefeated record Monday after earning a home victory against Waitsburg 75-33. The win officially marks the halfway point in the Lions’ season as they head deeper into league play.
“Honestly, it feels great, especially after our win last week against DeSales. I’m actually feeling nice,” said Lions junior Max Gulenko. “Our ball movement is feeling good, and our defense has been really nice.”
The Lions were dominant right from tipoff, gaining a 49-14 lead over the opposition in the first half. The MLCA/CCS front scored another 18 in the second half and maintained its significant lead to earn the victory.
Gulenko credited the Lions’ success this season to playing at their top level every game and solid teamwork.
“We hope to stay undefeated the whole season, but we’ll see how it goes,” he said.
Lions head coach Emerson Ferguson said Monday’s game highlighted the team’s ability to start strong and fast.
“It’ll just set the tone: this is who we are,” said Ferguson. “(These) guys have got to start strong and we dominate the game from start to finish.”
As the team heads into the second half of the season, he said the players need to maintain consistency. Over the holiday break, the Lions were persistent in their training and only took Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off.
“That’s the biggest thing was consistency and then the fundamental details of boxing out and making sure that we don’t give shooters open looks,” said the coach. “That was the big thing and luckily the boys responded very well.”
The grind has paid off as the Lions have beaten some of the top teams in the league, including Neah Bay and DeSales, this season. Ferguson said all the hard work and dedication the players have displayed this season show that they all have committed to the team and want to make it to the Spokane tournament in March.
Going forward, he said, the Lions will need to focus on defense after a few miscues in Monday’s game. With the season speeding along, it will come down to fixing their gameplay on the court until their next practice.
“(There's) not much time to really work on a lot of stuff, but what we’re going to do for sure is we’re going to make sure that we are able to fix the mistakes from tonight and be better tomorrow,” said Ferguson.
The Lions played on the road Tuesday against Waterville-Mansfield; results of that game were unavailable at the time of publication. The Lions will return home Thursday to face Soap Lake in a conference match at 7:30 p.m.
BOX SCORE:
MLCA: 28-21-18-8: 75
WTBG: 5-9-6-13: 33
Senior Johnny Ferguson from MLCA/CCS dunks the ball for the second possession in a row during Monday’s victory over Waitsburg.
MLCA/CCS senior James Robertson puts up a defensive stance to prevent Waitsburg from scoring in Monday’s matchup.
Lions junior Treyson Kast gets ready to go for the layup against Waitsburg on Monday.
Lions senior Dennis Gulenko shoots for two with pressure from Waitsburg during the final quarter on Monday.
MLCA/CCS junior Kevin Jorgenson looks for an open teammate to pass the ball over to during Monday’s game against Waitsburg.ARTICLES BY CALEB PEREZ
Cougars conclude season in state tourney
YAKIMA — The Warden Cougars’ softball season came to a close Friday in the quarterfinals of the 2B State Tournament after falling in a tight matchup against Rainier 13-10. Even with a loss the Cougars were proud of the successes they made this season. “It went well,” said Head Coach Randy Wright. “We’re a young team; we hung right in there in both games, but in the end the mistakes kind of cost us. We played well, but they had some big innings against us.”
Eagles’ Ewing and Knights’ Orth compete at state tennis
YAKIMA — The 1A and 1B State Tennis tournaments began Friday morning and Xavier Ewing from the Soap Lake Eagles and Cael Orth from the Royal Knights each began their bid as they looked to battle through the bracket. Full stories on both players will be published at a later date.
ACH falls into consolation bracket in state softball tournament
YAKIMA — The Almira/Coulee-Hartline Warriors fell 5-8 in the quarterfinal bracket to the Colton Wildcats during the 1B State tournament. With this loss, the Warriors continue their state bid in the consolation bracket as they battle for a chance at third place. “We came out strong as we needed to, got three runs in that first inning, and we shut them down,” said Warriors head coach Faye Butler. “Then I think the nerves and all the excitement got to us, did a couple overthrows and they had a good rally on us.” The Warriors started off strong with the three runs in the bottom of the first inning to gain a substantial lead over their opponent. ACH maintained this lead until the third inning as Colton tied up the score with three runs of their own.