Moses Lake caps historic season with victory over Lewis and Clark

No. 2 Moses Lake finished off a historic season with a 62-58 victory over Lewis and Clark. The Chiefs secured fourth place with the victory and finished the season at 25-1, a school record.

Head coach Matt Strophy said that the team showed resiliency by bouncing back from a tough loss to Central Valley on Thursday and re-group to push through the consolation bracket.

“The ability to bounce back and the ability to have goals and know that there are going to be obstacles that step in the way of our goals, we just have to re-route ourselves and come out on top,” Strophy said. “I think that’s what the girls were able to do.

“Just to make sure, ‘hey, you know what, just because we have one loss doesn’t mean we have to lose one more and go home or lose two more’ meaning this morning. They wanted to go out on a victory.”

Senior guard Jessie Loera led the Chiefs with 24 points. The Gonzaga commit also dished out a game-high seven assists and used her superb passing skills to turn the tide of the game in the second quarter. Though she only scored four in the quarter, she dished out four assists, ultimately accounting for 16 of the Chiefs 24 second quarter points.

“She’s been instrumental in our success because her IQ is so high, when she’s on the floor, she is tune with us as coaches for the most part and she can then coach the girls,” Strophy said. “If she sees something, she can make that call.”

Jessie’s little sister, Jamie Loera, who finished with 19, said that her older sister has instilled leadership skills in her over the last two years.

“I’ve had a lot of leadership skills, Jessie has led me, so I can take those skills and lead the team these next two years.”

This story was originally published March 5, 2016 at 2:54 PM with the headline "Moses Lake caps historic season with victory over Lewis and Clark."