Vancouver players lead Columbia Christian

Arkadiy Mkrtychyan and Luke Moody live a few minutes apart and would go to Prairie High School if they were public school students.

That never really was a possibility, though.

Instead, they are starters on one of the best small-school boys basketball programs in the Northwest.

Mkrtychyan scored 22 points Friday evening, leading Columbia Christian of Portland to a 76-50 victory over Camas at the Moda Center in Portland. Moody scored seven points, and made a 3-pointer on the NBA floor of the Portland Trail Blazers.

Moody might live in Clark County, but he never considered playing there. His parents and a grandmother attended Columbia Christian.

“I grew up there,” Moody said, Columbia Christian in all walks of life.

Mkrtychyan moved to Vancouver from Hawaii after the private school he was attending in paradise closed.

“We were looking for a good school, a private school, with good education,” said Mkrtychyan, who initially moved to Hawaii from Moscow, Russia. “It also has a good basketball program.”

Mkrtychyan, now a senior, was ineligible last year in Oregon so this is his first high school season in the Northwest.

A 6-foot-8 forward, Mkrtychyan has signed with Idaho.