LEMOORE - Hanford West head coach Jason Black looked to the sky before his Huskies' faced off against Lemoore Friday night.

He saw what he thought would be a bad omen.

He was right.

With the moon full, Hanford West turned the ball over 37 times to the host Tigers, who took advantage throughout the game to earn the 70-62 victory.

"I knew it was a bad sign," said Black. "It's plain and simple. Too many turnovers and 15 missed free throws.

"We had too many uncontrolled turnovers on dribbling."

The loss was the third in the past four games for the Huskies, who fall to 16-9 overall, 4-3 in the WYL.

Despite all the giveaways, the Huskies had a chance to win the game late.

Leading by five points at halftime, the Tigers expanded the lead to 13 by starting the half on a 9-1 run.

"We had been getting steals, but we hadn't been making the other teams pay," said Lemoore head coach Devree Clark. "We were able to finally capitalize on that."

Hanford West fought back.

The Huskies got a layup by Kristen Green later in the quarter, then Daejah Viney picked off a pass and scored on the breakaway to cut the lead to 42-38.

Lemoore entered the fourth quarter up eight, but by the four minute mark, the lead had evaporated.

Green hit a floating jumper then made the free throw after being fouled in the process of the shot to make it 53-51.

Jayla English then hit both of her free throws the next time down the court to tie the game at 53-53.

After a layup by Lemoore's Crystal Miller, Hanford West went ahead for the first time since they led 2-0 on a 3-pointer from Kalia Parker that banked off the backboard.

Lemoore got two points from Brianna Alvarez before Viney gave Hanford West the lead again on a jumper.

That's when the Tigers took control for good.

Jocelyn Salinas jumper in the middle of traffic gave the Tigers the lead for good, sparking a 10-2 run.

Parker hit a shot to pull Hanford West within one point, at 61-60, but Lemoore answered with seven straight points to end the run, putting the Tigers up eight.

Lemoore was led by Alvarez, who had 22 points and six rebounds. She was followed by Miller, who chipped in 13 points while Shanell Lee grabbed 14 rebounds.

Hanford West had five players score in the game, with all being in double figures.

Jenn Kuenning led the Huskies with 14 points and 14 rebounds.

Green and Parker each had 13 points apiece, followed by Viney with 11 points.

English had 10 points and 12 rebounds.

After the game Black hoped to motivate his team with the past turnaround of other Hanford West teams the past season.

Both the boys basketball and softball teams had losing streaks in the middle of league play.

"I feel like even if we're a six or seven seed, we can make a deep run in the playoffs," Black said. "I tried to motivate them with what those teams did."

The win was a much needed one for Lemoore, which improves to 7-11 overall and 3-4 in the West Yosemite League.

"We still got seven games to go," Clark said. "We have a lot of proving to do.

"I think we started doing that tonight."

The reporter can be reached at 583-2431. To comment on this story, go to www.HanfordSentinel.com

(Jan. 30, 2009)