2A Prep Boys Basketball: R.A. Long doesn't get the calls in season's first loss at River

Close (non)-Call? — Lumberjacks clipped 56-55, punched at the buzzer by Rapids

The R.A. Long Lumberjacks warmup at Columbia River prior to a 2A GSHL boys basketball contest with the Rapids. The Jacks fell 56-55 and absorbed a punch at the buzzer that promises to make the rematch a feisty affair. — Drew Lawson for Blast Zone Media

Drew Lawson for Blast Zone Media / blastzonenews@gmail.com

HAZEL DELL— Fans from Longview and Vancouver alike who arrived expecting to see something of a heavyweight bout got what they paid for when R.A. Long visited Columbia River in a battle of unbeaten 2A Greater St. Helens League basketball teams. And in the end, it was the host Rapids who threw the final punch…figuratively and literally… to cap a 56-55 victory Tuesday.

The matchup had everything one would hope for on a Cold December night — Michael Bublé copyright permission pending — Hot shooting, traditional post play, sharp backdoor cuts, a postgame scuffle and officiating controversy.

And we know for sure that the fix wasn’t in on this fight. But that doesn’t mean everything was on the up and up.

“It was what we expected, a slugfest,” R.A. Long head coach Jeray Key said. “Knew we probably weren’t going to get many calls down here. A lot of stuff was let go. They were able to clip us by one, it’s as simple as that.”

And while Key didn’t go as far as to state that he felt his Lumberjacks were playing 8-on-5 on the road, the Jacks’ final possession didn’t sit well with him.