It goes down as a loss but Cascade Christian boys basketball fans would be hard-pressed to not consider Friday’s battle against two-time reigning Class 6A state champion Tualatin at least somewhat of a moral victory.

The Challengers, two-time reigning 3A champions in their own right, stood toe-to-toe with the Timberwolves until a late lull allowed Tualatin to pull away for an 82-73 triumph during consolation round play at the Les Schwab Invitational in Hillsboro.

“We were winning for probably 75% of the game,” said Cascade Christian head coach Brian Morse. “It just kind of kept going back-and-forth in the second half. It was a fun game, we just couldn’t score in the last three minutes.”

Cascade Christian (3-5) used a torrid start to build confidence in its third game at the elite tournament.

“We came out of the chute up 10 or 12 in the first quarter,” said Morse, “and then at the end they hit some shots to close it within seven.”

Tualatin (8-4) was able to eke out a 39-37 advantage at halftime and the third quarter was essentially a wash until the Timberwolves were able to surge down the stretch.

A key turning point came with about two minutes remaining when Cascade Christian nearly had a shot clock violation before getting up a last-gasp effort, then Tualatin’s Jemai Lake drained a deep go-ahead 3-pointer.

“He launched a deep 3 from maybe 8 feet behind the line and it hits the back of the rim, goes up like 15 feet in the air,” Morse said, building drama, “and goes right through the hoop.”

After that, the Challengers were unable to come up with an answer.

“It was just kind of some offensive miscues that hurt us in the end,” said Morse. “I think we turned it over two or three times in the last couple minutes and didn’t get some quality shots, but we battled hard and it was definitely a fun game for everybody to watch.”

Freshman guard Avery Huston led Cascade Christian with a career-high 29 points to go with eight rebounds, while senior center Austin Maurer had 18 points and 15 rebounds.

“He played exceptionally well,” Morse said of Huston. “His shot was falling, but he was playing really good team basketball. He’s been such a great AAU player and we’re trying to get him into our team aspect.”

“(Thursday) was the first day that he actually did really well with what we needed team-wise in getting us into our offense and trusting our offense that the ball will come back to you,” he added. “Today, he was just phenomenal. He made some really good shots that were just good basketball team shots. He didn’t force very many shots, and that also had a lot to do with Austin getting the rebound and outletting, because we had a lot of fastbreaks.”

The 7-foot Maurer was a focal point of Tualatin’s defense but the Grand Canyon University signee was able to keep the Challengers clicking with his unselfish passing.

“Austin only had two points at halftime but he was very involved,” said Morse. “He was 1-for-2 in the first half but he was making the right pass because they were double- and triple-teaming him at times. He would skip the ball around and it allowed us to get easier scores.”

Next up for Cascade Christian will be a 12 p.m. Saturday matchup with Summit, which is ranked No. 1 in the Class 5A coaches poll.

“Every team up here is just loaded,” said Morse. “We’re definitely overmatched in every game, but it’s the depth that just kills a smaller school like us. But the kids are playing well and we’re seizing the moment, so it’s fun stuff.”

CASCADE CHRISTIAN (73): K. Kleker 0, Fronckowiak 12, Huston 29, Farmer 6, P. Maurer 4, Westlake 0, B. Kleker 0, Hockett 4, Goldade 0, A. Maurer 18. Totals: 28 12-15 73.

TUALATIN (82): Goodwin 0, Lake 41, Javernick 4, Zuckerman 8, Dearborn 0, Diaz 6, Steppe 21, Hunt 2. Totals: 29 17-18 82.

Cascade Christian 19 18 22 14 — 73

Tualatin 12 27 23 20 — 82

3-point goals — Cascade Christian 5 (Huston 3, Fronckowiak 2), Tualatin 7 (Lake 5, Zackerman 2).

PHOENIX 68, ETNA 36: At Phoenix, Brayden Decker and Amaru Williams scored 16 points apiece to lead Phoenix to its fourth straight triumph.

Dylan Harper recorded 14 points and Diego Hernandez added 10 points for the Pirates (8-3), who drained 10 3-pointers and led 23-11 after one quarter.

ETNA (36): Harris 9, Downey 11, Hubbard 4, Jenner 0, Shickle 12, Dresser 0. Totals: 14 5-8 36.

PHOENIX (68): Trenbeath 4, Pyeatt 0, Ponce 8, Decker 16, Dobbins 0, Williams 16, Hernandez 10, Garcia 0, Harper 14. Totals: 28 2-2 68.

Etna 11 7 10 8 — 36

Phoenix 23 20 14 11 — 68

3-point goals — Etna 3 (Harris 1, Downey 1, Shickle 1), Phoenix 10 (Decker 4, Ponce 2, Williams 2, Harper 2).

Girls Basketball

SOUTH MEDFORD 59, WEST LINN 29: At Portland, No. 4-ranked South Medford got off to a sizzling start by outscoring No. 8 West Linn by a 25-2 margin in the first quarter to advance to the championship finals in the platinum bracket of the POA Holiday Classic.

Sara Schmerbach spurred the Panthers (6-3) with 14 points, six steals, four assists and eight rebounds.

Taylor Young added 13 points and four steals, Kim Ceron-Romero had 11 points and three assists and Mayen Akpan collected 11 rebounds to go with eight points and two assists in the runaway win over the Lions (5-4).

Payton Anderson came off the bench to register six points and six boards for South.

WEST LINN (29): Hess 2, Moore 12, Jordan 7, Maxwell 0, Ka. Buse 4, Beall 0, Koch 0, Arnold 0, Ky. Buse 0, Friel 4. Totals: 12-33 2-4 29.

SOUTH MEDFORD (59): Young 13, Schmerbach 14, Ceron-Romero 11, Barlow 2, Akpan 8, Taulani 3, Howell 2, Anderson 6, Ostvik 0. Totals: 23-52 10-16 59.

West Linn 2 8 6 13 — 29

South Medford 25 8 15 11 — 59

3-point goals — West Linn 3-15 (Moore 2, Jordan 1), South Medford 3-14 (Young 2, Taulani 1).

CRATER 65, BAKER 30: At Stayton, Crater crushed Baker with a 29-9 first-quarter surge to earn its seventh straight victory and wrap up an unbeaten run in the SCTC Holiday Classic.

Addison Vranes connected on three 3-pointers and logged a game-high 15 points to lead the Comets (10-1), who also got 14 points from Sage Winslow and 12 points apiece by Abby Winslow and Lydia Traore.

CRATER (65): S. Winslow 14, Gish 4, Vranes 15, Weaver 0, Dippel 6, Munroe 0, Simmons 0, Yohner 0, A. Winslow 12, Traore 12, Kitchen 2.

BAKER (30): Gentry 5, Logsdon 5, Spike 3, Dalton 3, Whitford 2, Chandler 5, Myer 0, Rasmussen 2, Robb 4, Gulick 1.

Crater 29 12 13 11 — 65

Baker 9 3 6 12 — 30

3-point goals — Crater 7 (S. Winslow 1, Vranes 3, Dippel 2, A. Winslow 1), Baker 2 (Spike 1, Dalton 1).

PHOENIX 63, ETNA 53: At Phoenix, Anabell Delgado dropped a career-high 31 points and had 10 rebounds and nine steals on her birthday to lead Phoenix to the nonconference victory.

Alissa Alvarez collected 21 points and 10 rebounds to help spur the Pirates (8-4), who have won five of their last six games.

ETNA (53): S. Miller 0, Walker 2, Case 2, D. Miller 2, B. Merrihew 9, Thackeray 7, R. Merrihew 0, Houston 10, Johnson 21. Totals: 21 8-12 53.

PHOENIX (63): Quintero 2, Woodward 9, Delgado 31, Alvarez 21, Jacobs-Grigsby 0, Ponce 0. Totals: 24 9-21 63.

Etna 13 14 19 7 — 53

Phoenix 14 19 14 16 — 63

3-point goals — Etna 3 (Houston 2, B. Merrihew 1), Phoenix 6 (Delgado 4, Woodward 1, Alvarez 1). Fouled out — Thackeray.

NYSSA 57, CASCADE CHRISTIAN 30: At Salem, Isabel McCauley managed 11 points, six rebounds, seven steals and two assists but Cascade Christian was held to single-digit scoring in three of the four quarters at the Crusader Classic.

Emma Coats finished with six points and Angelica Arce added five points for the Challengers (5-4), while Jordynn Jones pulled in nine rebounds with two steals.

CASCADE CHRISTIAN (30): Akins 0, Samhammer 0, Folin 0, Coats 6, Jones 3, Roberson 3, Arce 5, G. McCauley 2, I. McCauley 11.

NYSSA (57): B. Hartley 11, A. Hartley 0, Trinidad 0, Johnson 0, Ct. Arizmendi 8, M. Johns 6, Long 0, Cs. Arizmendi 8, Griffin 0, L. Hartley 15, Draper 5, Cleaes 0, C. Johns 4.

Cascade Christian 4 12 6 8 — 30

Nyssa 12 16 12 17 — 57

3-point goals — Cascade Christian 2 (Roberson 1, Arce 1), Nyssa 6 (B. Hartley 3, L. Hartley 3).