MOUNT VERNON — Neah Bay dropped its first game in two months in a 76-65 setback to Seattle Lutheran in the 1B Tri-District boys basketball tournament semifinals at Mount Vernon Christian School.
The Red Devils have already clinched a regional berth, and are now gunning for the Tri-District’s third seed.
They face Tulalip Heritage today at Evergreen Lutheran in Tacoma at 4 p.m. The winner moves on to the third-place game Saturday in Bellingham, where it will play the winner between Lummi Nation and Evergreen Lutheran .
The losers of today’s consolation bracket games will play for the Tri-District’s fifth and sixth seeds at the regional round.
Monday’s game was a showdown between two of the top five teams in the final Associated Press Class 1B poll, the second-ranked Saints and the fourth-ranked Red Devils.
Each squad lived up to its billing, but Seattle Lutheran managed to slowly pull away, turning a three-point halftime lead into a five-point advantage going into the fourth quarter, and adding six points to that by the end of the game.
Seattle Lutheran’s Josh Meyer led all scorers with 23 points. He made 9 of 16 shots from the field and 3 of 6 from 3-point range. Roberto Duenaz and Grant Ball each added 16 points.
As a team, the Saints shot 48 percent from the field.
Neah Bay, meanwhile, was 35 percent from the field. That percentage was dragged down by 7 of 34 shooting from 3-point range.
Ryan Moss led the Red Devils with 20 points, and Rwehabura Munyagi Jr. and Kenrick Doherty Jr. contributed 12 apiece. Doherty and Moss also each had seven rebounds.
The last time Neah Bay (16-3) lost was Dec. 15 to Shorewood Christian. The Red Devils then reeled off 15 straight victories, the second of which was an 83-62 win over Tulalip Heritage on Dec. 21.
The Hawks (15-10) advanced to today’s game by upsetting Northwest League champion Orcas Christian 43-37 on Monday.
Seattle Lutheran (21-1) advances to Saturday’s Tri-District championship game against fellow SeaTac League team Shorewood Christian (18-3), which is ranked fifth by The Associated Press.
Seattle Lutheran 76, Neah Bay 65
Neah Bay 13 10 23 19— 65
Seattle Lutheran 10 16 25 25— 76
Individual scoring
Neah Bay (65)
Munyagi 12, McGimpsey 7, Bitegeko 8, Doherty 12, Moss 20, Buttram 6.
Seattle Lutheran (76)
Ball 16, Dowding-Albrecht 7, Turner 6, Lulow 8, Duenaz 16, Meyer 23, Doerr, Meehan.
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Compiled using team reports.