2A Prep Boys Basketball: R.A. Long clinches share of league title at Ridgefield

In a Pinch — Shorthanded Lumberjacks reel off 61-41 win over Spudders

R.A. Long coach Jeray Key hypes up Cameron Newsome (2) during a timeout in a league game on the road earlier this season. On Wednesday the Lumberjacks went to Ridgefield and defeated the Spudders 61-41 to lock down at least as hare of the 2A GSHL championship. — Skyler Smith for Blast Zone Media

High School Boys Basketball

Nick Sisson for Blast Zone Media

The R.A. Long Lumberjacks and Ridgefield Spudders warm up prior to a 2A GSHL contest at Ridgefield High School, Wednesday, Feb. 5. The Lumberjacks went on to win 61-41, while clinching at least a share of the league title. — Nick Sisson / N2 Media

RIDGEFIELD — Like homemade biscuits, the ingredients for the R.A. Long boys basketball team have remained constant all season long, and they have rarely disappointed. But while the ingredients are always the same, the quantity of each addition tends to change on a nightly basis, and yet they always seem to yield essentially the same result — another win.

Getting back in the kitchen for the final week of the regular season, the Lumberjacks utilized smothering defense, a balanced offensive output, and overcame a motivated Ridgefield squad 61-41 on the road Wednesday night. With the win, R.A. Long clinched at least a share of the 2A Greater St. Helens league championship for the first time since 2021-22.

The win also sets up a date with Mark Morris on Friday at The Lumberdome, where the Jacks will play for the outright league title.

With that rivalry contest between top-10 teams on tap, some would say Tuesay night’s contest was a good old fashion “trap game,” but R.A. Long coach Jeray Key and his team stood on business and cooked the Spudders just as they have to nearly every other foe this season.

“We didn’t come in here overlooking these guys and just getting ready to play Mark Morris,” said Key. “We wanted to be league champs, and we got that accomplished.