No. 3 Life Christian boys defeat Napavine to return to state quarterfinals — barely

Luke Lovelady is a fiend for social media. His dunks are constantly posted on Facebook and he closely monitors Twitter in his down time from Life Christian Academy basketball.

On Friday night, he saw the video of Union’s last-second, buzzer-beating 3-pointer to defeat Bellarmine Prep — and good friend Malachi Flynn.

“I saw his head in his jersey afterward,” Lovelady said. “I thought, ‘I don’t want that to happen to me.’ ”

Well fast-forward 14 hours later, and the third-ranked Eagles were in the same exact situation at the end of their Class 2B state regional showdown with Napavine on Saturday morning.

This time, Napavine standout Wyatt Stanley missed a 3-pointer in the final second, and Life Christian escaped with a 37-35 victory at Mount Tahoma High School.

The Eagles (23-2) are headed back to Spokane for the state quarterfinals Thursday in back-to-back seasons and 11th trip overall under longtime coach Mark Lovelady.

“Today wasn’t our best game,” Lovelady said. “But I am proud of my guys.”

He likely would have had a bit more pep to his celebration had Life Christian not squandered a big lead.

The Eagles jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the first 95 seconds and the Tigers (18-9) could not find any range, missing 18 of their first 19 field-goal attempts.

“Their length gave us problems,” Napavine coach Rex Stanley said. “Not only are they tall, but they are long. That zone (defense) gets pretty big, and there are not a lot of gaps in it.”

Life Christian built its biggest lead, 31-16, on C.J. Kovacs’ free throw with 2:14 remaining in the third quarter.

At about the same time the Eagles thought they could breathe easy, they stopped playing together. It nearly cost them their postseason lives.

Peyton Stanley hit a 3-pointer, then had a steal and lay-in in the final 35 seconds of the third quarter that sparked the Tigers, who trailed 31-23 heading into the fourth quarter.

Napavine whittled its deficit down to 35-33 on a Wyatt Stanley free throw with 1:41 to go.

With the shot clock winding down, the Eagles got the ball to Anthony Kunitsa, who charged down the left baseline and converted a nifty 8-foot floater with 26 seconds remaining, giving Life Christian a 37-33 lead.

Peyton Stanley made two free throws 13 seconds later to cut it to 37-35.

And after Wyatt Dunlap missed the front end of a one-and-one free throw situation, the Tigers got the ball to Wyatt Stanley just left of the top of the arc.

Stanley, a 6-foot-5 junior, faded back, and his flat 3-point attempt rattled out at the buzzer.

“I’ve been in that situation before … but it is always a little nerve-racking,” Luke Lovelady said. “In the back of your head, you know, ‘We don’t get a second chance after this.’ If we lose, it is over.”

Luke Lovelady led Life Christian with 15 points, 15 rebounds and five blocked shots.

“We have not had games like this (in our league) to prepare ourselves,” Mark Lovelady said. “And Napavine plays Toledo, Morton-White Pass and Mossyrock, and they have great games all the time.”

No. 1 Federal Way 79, No. 10 Woodinville 64: Ferron Flavors scored a game-high 31 points, hitting seven 3-pointers to lift the Eagles to a return trip to the Tacoma Dome since winning the 4A state title last year.

No. 6 Issaquah 64, Timberline 39: The Eagles put on a shooting clinic in the second half at Bellevue College to knock off the Blazers in a state regional game.

Kentwood 64, Cascade (Everett) 54: Rayvaughn Bolton scored a game-high 25 points, Davonte Sanchez added 12 and the Conquerors rallied from a 32-31 deficit at halftime to defeat the Bruins at Everett Community College to advance to the state quarterfinals Thursday at the Tacoma Dome. Kentwood will find out its opponent Sunday.

Central Valley 59, Kentridge 48: Justin Simmons scored 21 points as the Bears topped the Chargers at University High in Spokane to advance to the quarterfinals in the Tacoma Dome on Thursday.

Curtis 82, Kamiak 74: The Vikings opened up the game on a 22-8 run in the first quarter and were able to maintain momentum for the duration of the game.

Class 2A BOYS

Shorecrest 66, Steilacoom 57: This game took all four quarters and then some. Shore crest was able to edge the Sentinels in one overtime period, knocking Steilacoom out of the the tournament.

Ellensburg 70, Mark Morris 59: It was tight until the Bulldogs (14-10) exploded during the fourth quarter, outscoring the Monarchs (19-5) 26-16 to seal an 11-point victory.

Mark Morris kept the game tight until the fourth, they entered the quarter down 44-43. 5-foot-10 junior guard Will Burghardt would not give up for Mark Morris as he scored a game-high 32 points and was the only Monarch to reach double-digits in points.

CLASS 1A

King’s Way Christian 52, Cascade Christian 31: The Knights ended up being too much for the Cougars as Cascade Christian’s season comes to an end in the state regionals.

King’s 51, Vashon Island 41: The Pirates jumped out to a 16-9 lead, but the defending state champions battled back to earn a trip to Yakima’s SunDome for a fourth consecutive season.

This story was originally published February 27, 2016 at 9:07 PM with the headline "No. 3 Life Christian boys defeat Napavine to return to state quarterfinals — barely."