2A Boys State Tournament: Anacortes falls to RA Long in Semifinals

Seahawks junior Ryan Harrington

The undefeated, and #2 seeded RA Long Lumberjacks got past the #6 seeded Anacortes Seahawks, 53-49, Friday night in the 2A state semifinals in the Yakima SunDome.

The Lumberjacks were on the attack as the ball left the referee’s hand on the opening tip.  Showing off their strength, speed, and aggressiveness, that brought them to the semis with a perfect 26-0 record. 

The Jacks forced the Seahawks to call two early timeouts, trailing 9-3 in the first two minutes, and 14-3 at the 4:39 mark of the first quarter.  The Seahawks weathered the storm but still trailed 18-9 after eight minutes. 

It didn’t help the Seahawks that Jacks senior guard Jeff Rooklidge stroked four 3-pointers in the first half on four shots.  One came at the end of a near shot clock violation, as he received a pass from teammate Cam Newsome, who tossed the ball to Rooklidge as he was falling out of bounds under the basket.  Rooklidge made the shot from a few steps beyond the top of the key that gave the Jacks a 21-9 lead.  Rooklidge scored 16 points in the first half, as the Seahawks trailed 33-17.

A halftime lineup adjustment by the Seahawks to start the second half may have sent the message that they weren’t done with this game. 

To match the Lumberjacks strength and aggressiveness, the Seahawks put their strongest five players on the floor to start the half.  That lineup was Micah Dickison, Brennan Morgenthaler, Gunner Willoughby, Ryan Harrington, and Luca Moore.

The Seahawks got a stop on the Jacks first possession of the second half, then Harrington, who had come up big for the Seahawks in this tournament, hit a 3-pointer to begin the Seahawks comeback.

However, the comeback took a bit too long to overtake the Lumberjacks, as the Seahawks still trailed by 12 to start the fourth quarter.

Down by 13 with 6:13 left, junior guard Lucas Roberts converted a 3-point play then scored again to cut the Jacks lead to 47-41. 

RA Long’s offensive aggressiveness became a game of keep-away in the final minutes.  The Seahawks forced a shot clock violation with 2:10 to play, and trailing just 50-46, but turned the ball over on their next possession. 

They had another chance with the score the same but came up empty again.

The Jacks added a free throw for a five-point lead then Dickison cut the lead to two with a long 3-pointer from the right wing with nine seconds left.  The Jacks added a free throw to get the lead to four points, and that’s where things ended. 

Rooklidge led the Jacks with 21 points, hitting 5-8 from 3-point range.

Spencer Roberts scored 11 of his team-leading 16 points in the second half.  Dickison had 12 points and 12 rebounds. 

The undefeated Lumberjacks will play for the 2A title against #1 Bremerton, who had to escape their semifinal game with a buzzer-beating lay-in by Jalen Davis, in overtime, over Columbia River.

The Seahawks (22-5) will take on Columbia River for third and fifth place at 100pm, Saturday, in the SunDome.

~ Ted House

STATS

Anacortes: Houston 0, S.Roberts 16, Willoughby 0, L.Roberts 8, Moore 5, Harrington 8, Morgenthaler 0, Dickison 12

FG: 18-49 36.7%

3P: 5-13, 38.5%

FT: 8-15, 53.3%

RA Long: Newsome 2, Rooklidge 21, Pittsley 4, Herrera 3, Crane 12, Irwin 9, Coates 2

FG: 19-39, 48.7%

3P: 9-18, 50%

FT: 6-9, 66.7%