TACOMA — Losing the game was tough enough.
The real pain for the Skyview girls basketball team is there is no tomorrow.
“We’re all crying because we’re going to miss each other,” junior Ashlee Comastro said.
Skyview’s season came to an end Friday morning in the consolation bracket of the Class 4A girls basketball state tournament at the Tacoma Dome.
Jessie Loera made four 3-pointers and scored 19 points, Jamie Loera added 15 points, and Moses Lake earned a 50-41 victory to advance to Saturday’s fourth-place game.
“Just such a yucky feeling,” Skyview coach Jennifer Buscher said. “I have a pit in my stomach. Our girls wanted to play on the last day of the season. This is such a great group of kids. You want the best for them. When you love kids this much, you want the best for them. I’m just disappointed.”
Much like Thursday’s quarterfinal game against Todd Beamer, the Storm fell behind early against Moses Lake, then mounted a late comeback that fell flat in the final moments.
Trailing by 13 in the third quarter, Skyview made it a five-point game with 4:48 left in the fourth quarter on a basket from Riley Friauf. The Storm, though, would go 0 for 3 from the floor with six turnovers the rest of the way, never scoring again.
Comastro led the Storm with 15 points. Riley Friauf added 10 and Sydney Friauf scored seven.
“We definitely put everything in, as much as we could,” Comastro said of a season that saw the Storm win 20 games as well as a 4A Greater St. Helens League title. “We worked so hard to get to this point. It’s sad to see it come to an end. We’re all real close.”
Riley Friauf’s 3-pointer in the first quarter tied the game at 7, but Moses Lake responded with 10 points in a row and never lost that lead.
The Storm trailed by 12 at the half, but got to within seven late in the third quarter. Jessie Loera, though, banked in a long 3-pointer just before the horn, giving the Chiefs a 10-point lead into the fourth.
Riley Friauf would convert a three-point play, then scored on Skyview’s next possession to make it 46-41. After a Moses Lake miss, the Storm had a chance to make it a one-possession game. Instead, Jessie Loera got a steal and uncontested layup that squashed the Skyview momentum.
Four Skyview starters are expected to return for the 2016-17 campaign.
“We’re just going to try again next year,” Comastro said. “We’re going to try to get to Saturday.”
MOSES LAKE 50, SKYVIEW 41
MOSES LAKE — Jamie Loera 15, Taylor Yamane 1, Jessie Loera 19, Jessica Olson 2, Abby Rathbun 10, Kiera McPartland 0, Ellie Mayo 0, Maggie Strom 1, Mikayla Chavez 0, Morgan Yamane 2, Taylor Stevens 0. Totals 18 (6) 8-15 50.
SKYVIEW — Riley Friauf 10, Sydney Friauf 7, Hanna VanNortwick 5, Ashlee Comastro 15, Maddie Lord 1, Remi Riley 0, Hannah Hale 0, Kirsten Johnson 3. Totals 16 (3) 6-13 41.
Moses L. 17 12 13 8—50
Skyview 8 9 15 9—41
