BAKER CITY — The Rogue Valley Adventist boys basketball team nearly pulled off a first-day upset at the Class 1A state tournament, but third-seeded South Wasco County was able to edge the No. 6-seeded Red Tail Hawks for a 59-58 comeback win Wednesday at Baker High School.

Rogue Valley Adventist (23-3) was in position to hand South Wasco County (24-0) its first loss of the season, leading for all but 95 seconds of the quarterfinal matchup.

The Redsiders, however, got their first lead of the night at 57-56 on a jumper from Remington Anderson-Sheer with 1:35 to go.

RVA tied it at 57-all with 36 seconds remaining when Kyle Wilson split a pair of free throws before South Wasco went back in front by one when James Best did the same from the charity stripe.

That sequence repeated itself moments later, as RVA’s Lucas Christensen tied it at 58-all before Oscar Thomas scored what proved to be the decisive point with seven seconds left at the free-throw line.

Wilson had one last chance to put the Red Tail Hawks in front but missed a jumper right before the final buzzer.

Thomas finished with a game-high 27 points and hit six of the Redsiders’ seven 3-pointers.

Wilson led RVA with 14 points and pulled down six rebounds, while Cody Mendenhall had 13 points and seven boards. David Zamudio and Thomas Strate both added eight points.

The Red Tail Hawks couldn’t have started Wednesday night’s quarterfinal any better, opening the game on a 15-0 run as four of their five starers contributed points during the surge.

South Wasco closed the first quarter on a 9-3 run to cut RVA’s lead to 19-8, but the Red Tail Hawks used a 7-3 spurt to push their lead back into double digits, as back-to-back layups by Mendenhall and Bryce Perry made it 25-11.

Mendenhall and Wilson combined for 19 points in the first half, helping RVA take a 35-25 lead into the break.

South Wasco cut RVA’s lead to eight, 35-27 early in the third quarter, but two free throws by Mendenhall and five straight points from Christensen again pushed the Red Tail Hawks’ lead back into the mid-teens at 41-27.

South Wasco, however, was able to outscore RVA 21-13 in the fourth quarter and 34-23 in the second half.

RVA next plays at 10:45 a.m. this morning in the consolation bracket against the loser of Wednesday night’s final quarterfinal matchup between No. 2 Powder Valley and seventh-seeded Nixyaawii.

ROGUE VALLEY ADVENTIST (58): Kyle Wilson 5-11 4-7 14; Cody Mendenhall 3-6 6-7 13; David Zamudio 4-14 0-0 8; Thomas Strate 4-6 0-0 8; Lucas Christensen 3-7 1-4 7; Bryce Perry 3-6 0-2 6; Alex Wiggers 1-6 0-0 2. Totals 23-56 11-20 58.

SOUTH WASCO COUNTY (59): Oscar Thomas 9-21 3-4 27; Ian Ongers 4-13 5-8 13; Brock LaFaver 3-8 2-2 8; R. Anderson-Sheer 3-6 1-2 7; Joey Holloway 1-4 0-1 3; James Best 0-2 1-5 1. Totals 20-54 12-22 59.

Rogue Valley Adventist18171013— 58

South Wasco County9161321— 59

3-point goals—Rogue Valley Adventist 1-9 (Cody Mendenhall 1-1; David Zamudio 0-8), South Wasco County 7-24 (Oscar Thomas 6-17; Joey Holloway 1-3; Brock LaFaver 0-2; R. Anderson-Sheer 0-1; Ian Ongers 0-1). Fouled out—Rogue Valley Adventist-Cody Mendenhall, South Wasco County-Brock LaFaver. Rebounds—Rogue Valley Adventist 39 (Cody Mendenhall 7; Alex Wiggers 7), South Wasco County 40 (Ian Ongers 11). Assists—Rogue Valley Adventist 5 (Bryce Perry 3), South Wasco County 9 (James Best 5). Total fouls—Rogue Valley Adventist 20, South Wasco County 16.

Girls

GRANTS PASS 46, WEST SALEM 44: At Salem, Mia Thompson’s putback with two minutes to go proved to be enough to give No. 21 Grants Pass the upset win over 12th-seeded West Salem in the opening round of the 6A state playoffs.

The Cavers (13-9) fought back after a tough first half in which they scored just six first-quarter points and trailed 24-16 at the half. Grants Pass, however, outscored West Salem (16-9) 30-20 in the second half to complete the comeback.

Brooke Anderson scored 18 points to lead Grants Pass, which will face No. 5 seed Clackamas (23-2) on Saturday. Clackamas had no trouble with St. Mary’s Academy in recording a 59-27 win Wednesday.

Baylee Butler had 13 points for West Salem.

GRANTS PASS (46): Brandes 0, Anderson 18, Thompson 8, Bruner 3, K. Wakefield 0, Pastrell 2, Mock 5, B. Wakefield 6, Vainuku-Johnson 4, Tobey 0. Totals: 18 5-8 46.

WEST SALEM (44): Butler 13, Garland 3, Diaz 12, Mejia 0, Dixon 2, Adams 3, Bennett 11, Martin 0. Totals: 18 4-7 44.

Grants Pass6101218— 46

West Salem618911— 44

3-point goals — Grants Pass 3 (Anderson 2, Bruner 1), West Salem 4 (Butler 1, Garland 1, Diaz 2). Fouled out — B. Wakefield.