SPOKANE — Neah Bay will face the Almira/Coulee-Hartline Warriors for the Class 1B state boys basketball championship tonight at 7 p.m.
The Red Devils defeated Sunnyside Christian 61-58 in Friday’s first semifinal, and Almira/Coulee-Hartline followed by beating Yakama Nation Tribal School 46-41 in the other semifinal.
The Warriors have an undefeated 25-0 record and finished the season ranked No. 1 in 1B by The Associated Press — they held the top spot in the poll for the entire season.
The Red Devils (21-3), who were ranked fourth in the final AP poll, will be vying for their first-ever state championship in basketball. Neah Bay is no stranger to state title games, though, having been runners-up at three of the past five 1B tournaments (2011, 2013 and 2015).
The Warriors, meanwhile, won the 1B state boys basketball title in 2012.
Almira/Coulee-Hartline also won the 1B state football championship in December.
The state championship game can be viewed live online at www.nfhsnetwork.com for a fee of $9.95.
Previous version:
SPOKANE — The Neah Bay boys basketball team will play for a state championship after gritting out a 61-58 victory over Sunnyside Christian on Friday in the Class 1B state semifinals at Spokane Arena.
The Red Devils will face the winner of the second semifinal between Almira/Coulee-Hartline and Yakama Tribal at 7 p.m. Saturday.
It’s the second consecutive trip to the state finals for Neah Bay and the team’s third finals visit in the past four seasons.
Against Sunnyside Christian, the Red Devils led 37-35 at halftime and 54-44 entering the final period.
The Knights battled back to within 59-58 in thefinal minute, as Luke Wagenaar scored seven of his game-high 20 points in the final period.
Sunnyside Christian’s Chance Marsh missed two shots that would have given the Knights the lead, and also turned the ball over with less than five seconds remaining.
Kenrick Doherty Jr. found Rwehabura Munyagi Jr. on the ensuing inbounds play for a long runout and layup at the buzzer for Neah Bay.
Doherty led the Red Devils with 17 points, while Munyagi added 15.
