Trout Lake tightened its grip on first place in the Greater Columbia B League's Klickitat County Division last weekend, despite splitting its two games.
The Mustangs stretched their lead over Lyle to three games (with three to go) by trimming the Cougars, 57-44, last Friday.
On Saturday, Trout Lake had its four-game winning streak stopped by Yakima Valley Division leader and top-ranked Riverside Christian, 74-38.
Lyle, meanwhile, lost another game in the standings when it dropped a 47-41 decision at home to Mabton.
Glenwood slipped to third in the division after two road losses that stretched its losing skid to six games.
At Riverside 74, Trout Lake 38 --
One night after losing their first game of the season, the Crusaders came to play with something to prove.
They dominated with the early going with their defense, forcing nine Mustangs turnovers in the first quarter to spark a 15-0 run on their way to a 20-5 advantage. The score at halftime was 39-15.
Riverside didn't let up in the second half and finished with a 36-23 rebounding advantage.
Junior Ben Steward scored 14 points to lead Trout Lake, which turned the ball over 20 times. Senior Mike Hansen had 12 points and nine rebounds.
Mabton 47, at Lyle 41 --
The Cougars followed up a strong first half with a subpar third quarter that allowed the Vikings to reverse a 22-18 halftime deficit.
Mabton outscored Lyle, 14-4, in the third quarter, then played even in the fourth to pull out the win and strengthen its hold on second place in the Yakima Valley Division.
The Cougars got within two points in the final two minutes, but poor offensive execution on crucial possessions left them with their fifth GCB loss.
Junior Kalvin Kernan's 19 points and seven rebounds were tops for Lyle, whose coach sounded an upbeat note despite the defeat.
"(On Friday) Mabton defeated the number-one team in the state, Riverside Christian, 58-48, a team that beat us earlier in the year, 94-32," Cougars Coach Joe Bales noted, "so we felt pretty good about our effort."
At Yakama Tribal 61, Glenwood 52 --
The hometown Eagles erased the last remnants of a 20-point first-quarter deficit with a strong fourth quarter against the visiting Eagles last Saturday.
Glenwood led, 23-6, after one quarter but Tribal came back inthe second to pull within 33-25 at the half.
Tribal then halved Glenwood's halftime lead to 45-41 at the end of the third quarter. A big 20-7 finish in the final frame carried Tribal to the victory.
Juniors Tony Leiter and Mitch Wheelhouse scored 18 and 13 points to pace Glenwood.
Trout Lake 57, at Lyle 44 --
The Mustangs built a 33-22 halftime bulge by outscoring the Cougars, 19-8, in the second quarter.
Junior Kris Huffsmith led Trout Lake with a game-high 15 points, and senior Roy Browning added 10 in the second match-up between the Klickitat County Division's two top teams.
For Lyle, junior Kalvin Kernan had 13 points and a team-high seven rebounds. Sophomore Martin Grace chipped in nine points and five assists.
Klickitat 61, at Bickleton 47 --
Sophomore J.J. Keys hit eight 3-pointers and pumped in 40 points for the second time in two days to lead the Vandals to the win over the Pirates last Friday.
Sparked by Keys' shooting, Klickitat extended a 14-8 first-quarter lead to 32-19 at the half.
Sophomore Cory Fakesch added 10 points to help the Vandals secure their second league victory.
At Sunnyside Christian 69, Glenwood 43 --
The Knights picked up the tempo in the second half last Friday to pull away from the Eagles.
Sunnyside outscored Glenwood, 41-22, after taking a 28-21 lead into the break.
Three Knights scored in double figures while sophomore Justin Holly and junior Mitch Wheelhouse netted 15 and 12 points for the Eagles, who led, 13-12, after one quarter.
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