Wildcats scrape by Lions in opening round

CHENEY - The one-loss Colton Wildcats girls basketball team, fresh off a 1B District 9 title, opened the proceedings of the WIAA 1B state tournament against the three-loss Moses Lake Christian Lions. It took an overtime period, but Colton was able to get it done, beating Moses Lake Christian 61-58.

Early momentum belonged to the Lions, who opened the game with a 9-0 run that remained uninterrupted until 4:04 to go in the first quarter, when Sidni Whitcomb made one of two free throw attempts to get the Wildcats on the board, down 9-1.

Colton spent the remaining four minutes of the opening frame inching into Moses Lake's Christian lead, ending the first with an 8-5 run to go into the second quarter down 14-9.

A further dent into the Lions' lead wouldn't come until 5:30 to go in the first half, when Ella Nollmeyer made a 3-pointer to get the Wildcats within one point, down 16-15.

Moses Lake Christian would end the first half with a 9-5 run to, again, put Colton down by five with a lead of 25-20 going into halftime.

"I thought early in the game we were getting some pretty good looks," Colton head coach Clark Vining said. "We just didn't knock them down. Being down 9-0 to start isn't ideal, but I still thought we were playing some pretty good basketball. We just weren't getting shots to go down."

Shots would start to go down for the Wildcats in the second half, who twice got within one point of the Lions before Clair Moehrle made a 3-pointer to put Colton up 29-27 with 4:21 to go in the third quarter.

The two-point lead for Colton would stand going into the fourth quarter, with Moses Lake Christian down 36-34.

The Wildcats would keep the Lions at a three-to-four point deficit before most of the final quarter, before finally gaining some breathing room by going up 53-46 with 1:43 left in regulation.

The breathing room was not enough for Colton, and Moses Lake Christian went on a 6-1 run in the next 1:40, and tied the game up after two made free throws to send the game into overtime.

Free throws would continue to be crucial for both sides in the four-minute period; the Wildcats went on a 6-0 run in O.T. to go up 60-54 with 2:21 left. All six points came from the charity stripe.

Moses Lake Christian's first points of overtime came from the charity stripe, as well, but those points would not be as plentiful as they were for Colton, who put up one more free throw after the Lions scored with a lay-up to have a 61-58 advantage.

Moses Lake Christian had the final possession of the game, but couldn't send the game to a second overtime and Colton escaped with the three-point win.

"The free throws at the end, we were trying to really just attack the basket," Vining said. "It's kind of the way (Moses Lake Christian) was playing defense on us – trying to take the threes away. So, when teams do that, we're going to try and attack the paint a little bit more to get to the free throw line."

Grace Kuhle led the Wildcats with 25 total points. Kyndra Stout added 13.

Moses Lake Christian was paced with 21 points from Kali Kast, while McKenna Meise added 12.

The win gives Colton an extra day to recover and prepare for its opponent in the quarterfinal-round of the state tournament, which will come at 12:15 p.m. today against either Willapa Valley or Inchelium.

MOSES LAKE CHRISTIAN (20-4)

Lorena Serrato 0 0-0 0, Graycie Kast 3 3-6 9, Maria Gulenko 1 2-2 4, Allison Stanley 2 0-0 4, Makiya Kast 4 0-0 8, Mckenna Meise 5 1-2 12, Kali Kast 8 5-5 21. Totals 23 13-15 58.

COLTON (23-1)

Grace Kuhle 8 9-10 25, Holly Heitstuman 1 2-2 4, Kyndra Stout 4 2-6 13, Ella Nollmeyer 3 0-0 7, Clair Moehrle 2 2-2 7, Sidni Whitcomb 0 5-11 5. Totals 18 20-31 61.

3-point goals - Meise, Stout 3, Nollmeyer, Moehrle.