Cascade Christian's Austin Maurer, shown against Amity, had 18 points, 17 rebounds, four assists and three blocks in Friday's 52-51 win over De La Salle North Catholic in the Class 3A state semifinals.

Having a 7-foot center on your side is never a bad thing.

When you have someone like that who also can serve as a playmaker, well, it’s almost unfair at the Class 3A level in boys basketball.

Cascade Christian junior Austin Maurer did all the things you would expect from a reigning state player of the year Friday night — and then some — to help propel the Challengers back into the state championship final in Coos Bay.

Maurer scored 18 points, pulled in 17 rebounds, blocked three shots and saw his fourth assist break a tie with 36 seconds remaining to help Cascade Christian defeat De La Salle North Catholic, 52-51, in a rematch of last year’s championship game.

“Austin was just a crazy man getting all the boards,” said Challengers head coach Brian Morse, “and that was key because he seemed to get all these big rebounds for us and, of course, he made the right plays when he had to. They played him tough, but Austin was big for us.”

Cascade Christian (26-4) had seen its seven-point lead erased completely in the fourth quarter when Elliot Ball-Dowling drilled a 3-pointer with 1 minute, 16 seconds remaining to tie the contest at 48-all.

Out of a timeout, the Challengers put the ball in Maurer’s hands and sophomore Drew Hall lulled his defender to sleep before making a quick burst to the basket to take a pass in stride for a go-ahead layup.

“We were trying to run that for a couple possessions earlier but they fouled us and we went to the free-throw line and so we never really got set into it,” said Morse. “After that timeout we said, ‘Hey, let’s go back to it. We know it’s going to work, we’ve been waiting for it all game.’ Sure enough, their player bit on it and Austin made a great pass and Drew finished it.”

De La Salle North Catholic (24-4) was unable to answer and 1-for-2 efforts from the foul line from Jaren Fronckowiak and Hall in the final 23 seconds gave the Challengers just enough cushion to hold on for the victory.

Ball-Dowling connected on a 3-pointer with two seconds remaining for the final margin.

“I am so thankful there was not one more minute of time on that clock because it felt like we were on a toboggan ride going down a snow slope and there was no stopping it,” Morse said of the fourth quarter. “De La Salle came back like gangbusters, it was tight at the end there. We missed some free throws but at least we made the ones we did to make it a four-point game to weather that 3-point shot at the end. It was a crazy game.”

Hall finished with 13 points and six rebounds while Fronckowiak and Cannon Anderson each had seven points for the Challengers.

Quincy Arranda scored 12 points and Jaylen Hill had 10 points and 10 rebounds for De La Salle North Catholic, which was limited in its fastbreak opportunities as well as potential quick baskets off turnovers from its press by the Challengers.

“We did a great job in both of those areas and played some great team defense,” said Morse. “When they had to play a halfcourt set against us — and we could play defense for 20-30 seconds — the longer the possession, the better it was for us.”

The only drawback? The reigning champion Challengers extended a lot of extra effort for a second straight night as they head into Saturday’s championship final at 8:30 p.m. at Marshfield High.

“Our guys are pretty gassed,” said Morse. “Those have been two really intense games two nights in a row. Even though the score last night doesn’t show it (65-48 win over Dayton), it was a dogfight for most of the game.”

“I really feel when we get into the championship game at 8:30 and the adrenaline starts pumping, we’ll be fine,” he added. “We’re definitely battle-tested and the guys are playing with a lot of confidence right now and we’re playing our best basketball. As a coach that’s what we want, you want to be peaking at the right time. We’re not sliding into that state championship game and hoping that we play well tomorrow, we’re really playing some good basketball.”

CASCADE CHRISTIAN (52): Austin Maurer 6-9 5-7 18, Drew Hall 6-13 1-5 13, Cannon Anderson 3-9 0-1 7, Jaren Fronckowiak 2-4 3-4 7, Peyton Maurer 3-7 0-1 6, Deryk Farmer 0-0 1-2 1, Triston Wallace 0-2 0-0 0. Totals: 20-44 10-20 52.

DE LA SALLE NORTH CATHOLIC (51): Quincy Aranda 3-13 4-6 12, Jaylen Hill 4-10 2-2 10, Elliot Ball-Dowling 3-8 0-0 8, Jordan James 2-6 2-2 7, Zhalei Van 2-3 0-0 5, Jonas Noel Jr. 2-3 0-0 4, Preston Thomas 1-5 0-0 3, Israel Hill Jr. 1-8 0-0 2. Totals: 18-56 8-10 51.

Cascade Christian 14 15 9 14—52

De La Salle North Catholic 14 9 11 17—51

3-point goals—Cascade Christian 2-9 (Austin Maurer 1-2, Cannon Anderson 1-2, Jaren Fronckowiak 0-1, Peyton Maurer 0-3, Triston Wallace 0-1), De La Salle North Catholic 7-22 (Quincy Aranda 2-6, Elliot Ball-Dowling 2-5, Zhalei Van 1-1, Jordan James 1-4, Preston Thomas 1-1, Israel Hill Jr. 0-3, Jonas Noel Jr. 0-1, Jaylen Hill 0-1). Rebounds—Cascade Christian 34 (Austin Maurer 17), De La Salle North Catholic 33 (Jaylen Hill 10). Assists—Cascade Christian 13 (Austin Maurer 4), De La Salle North Catholic 9 (Israel Hill Jr. 4). Total fouls—Cascade Christian 14, De La Salle North Catholic 18.