KELSO — The first half of the 2A District 4 Championship Game couldn’t have gone much worse for Tumwater.
R.A. Long connected on a barrage of three-pointers, the T-Birds couldn’t get anything going on the other end, and they entered the locker room down 24.
“That was a pretty ugly first half,” Tumwater coach Josh Wilson said. “When you come into halftime, it’s not really a time to raise your voice and get ticked at them. It’s a time to just ask them to dig deep and do a little more.”
The Thunderbirds did more in the second half to make it a ball game, but they weren’t able to completely overcome the early deficit and lost 59-53.
“Our guys didn’t quit,” Wilson said. “We had a good fight in the second half, and when you get down like that, that’s all you can ask for.”
The R.A. Long barrage from deep started early, when Cam Newsome got the Lumberjacks on the board just over a minute into the game. Minutes later, R.A. Long’s Josh Crane hit three straight three-pointers to put the Lumberjacks in front.
R.A. Long hit five more threes in the second quarter, while Tumwater was held to just four points.
“They shot very, very, very, very well in the first half,” Wilson emphasized. “It’s just one of those things.”
Another three-pointer just after halftime put Tumwater’s deficit at 26. Just as thoughts of the running clock rule started to enter the minds of those in attendance, the game started to shift.
Landon Anchors hit a three in response, and the T-Birds ended the quarter on a 13-1 run to get within 13 heading into the fourth.
“We started playing more as a team and coming together instead of trying to play hero ball,” Anchors said. “It started opening up more area, and we kind of started getting our urgency up better.”
As hot as the Lumberjacks were from the floor in the first half, they went just as cold in the second. Across nearly 10 game minutes, they didn’t hit a single shot from the floor, only occasionally sprinkling in a point or two on free throws.
The T-Birds continued to chip away. Jake Reid opened the fourth with a three, Anchors added another, and Julian Balsley hit a pair of layups. With 2:37 to play, Tumwater was within six, but the T-Birds never got closer than that.
“We stayed the course and kind of got back into it,” Anchors said. “It shows that we have the abilities and confidence to be in these games and compete with the top teams.”
Anchors finished with a game-high 23 points, while Ethan Bello scored 11 and had four rebounds. Balsley and Reid both scored six points, Luke Overbay added five points and nine rebounds, and Owen Reamer added a pair of points.
At 21-2 overall, the T-Birds should earn a top-8 seed despite the loss. If that ends up being the case, they will be making the trip to Yakima no matter what, but they would have the opportunity to earn a bye to the state quarterfinals in the Regional Round matchup next weekend.
Tumwater will learn its state fate on Sunday around noon, when the brackets are released by the WIAA.
“I just wanted them to see their full potential and to realize that,” Wilson said. “This was not a game that we saw that. Hopefully, we can learn from this, get back at it, and see what we can do … Obviously, you want to cut down that net and win a district championship, but we still have basketball ahead of us, and that’s the important thing.”
