YAKIMA — Civil War part four had all the beats of a classic rivalry game between R.A. Long and Mark Morris.
High-pressure shot-making. Gritty defense and rebounding. Diving to the floor for loose balls.
And for the fourth time in four tries this season, R.A. Long came away with a win. Mark Morris’ 3-point attempt fell off the mark as time expired and R.A. Long escaped with a 50-48 win, sending the Lumberjacks to their second Class 2A boys basketball state semifinal appearance in four years at Yakima SunDome.
“We told them how hard it’s going to be,” R.A. Long coach Jeray Key said. “It’s hard to beat a team three times, it’s hard to beat a team four times. And it is. But I say if you’re the better team, the better team can win four times in a row. Nothing against them, but I feel like we’re the better team. I think we’ve proved it four games in a row. They’re really freaking good, but we’re really good too.”
No. 2 seed R.A. Long will face No. 3 Bremerton on Friday at 5:30 p.m., with a spot in Saturday’s championship game on the line.
“We’ve got one goal and we’re trying to complete the mission,” Key said. “We feel good about it, but we’ve got to move on before tomorrow.”
Cam Newsome led R.A. Long with 15 points and Landon Irwin added 10 points. Irwin grabbed two offensive rebounds and putbacks in the fourth quarter — the latter giving the Lumberjacks a 50-45 lead with 1:11 left.
Jadyn Brooks hit a 3-pointer on the other end, and Nathan Stephens rebounded a loose ball with 20 seconds left after getting a defensive stop.
The Monarchs rallied back into the game after falling behind 13-2 after one quarter. Dalton Stevens led the Monarchs with 12 points and Brooks added 11.
“We got out to a good lead. But the thing with them is they never go away,” Key said. ” … They’re just a composure team. You’ve got to fight until the very end. Coming down to the last shot like that, I was a little surprised. But I knew it was going to be a battle like that.”
No. 8 Mark Morris will face No. 12 Franklin Pierce in the fourth-place semifinals on Friday at 10:30 a.m.
R.A. LONG 50, MARK MORRIS 48
MARK MORRIS (21-6) — Dalton Stevens 12, Drew Ibarreta 7, Zane Armstrong 0, Nathan Stephens 8, Mark Hendrickson 0, Jadyn Brooks 11, Carson Bogner 4, Mac West 6. Totals 16 (6) 10-14 48.
R.A. LONG (24-1) — Payton Thill 5, Cameron Newsome 15, Jeffrey Rooklidge 0, TraMayne Jenkins 7, Joshua Crane 7, Landon Irwin 10, Rhet Young 6. Totals 0 (0) 0-0 00.
