High School Basketball: R.A. Long wins race with Columbia River in District semis
PHOTO GALLERY – Rooklidge leads Jacks in 58-50 victory; RAL to play Tumwater in District title tilt
Nick Sisson (N2 Media) special to BlastZoneMedia.com / blastzonenews@gmail.com
2A Prep Boys Basketball / Report
WOODLAND — If a screenplay was ever in the works about R.A. Long Boys’ Basketball, there’s a good chance that by now the script writers would be sitting down in an office somewhere getting an earful from the corporate higher ups that the same story is being written over and over and the audience has grown tired of the same story being told time and time again.
In this case, the audience will be played by everyone who doesn’t wear flannel shirts while bleeding red and black in Robert A. Long’s planned city. Stop me if you’ve heard this one before; Jeff Rooklidge is going to knock down a handful of huge three-pointers on the route to another hard-fought win over Columbia River?
It might sound boring and infuriating to the audience, but for those that actually do bleed red and black and hail from Squirrel Town, U.S.A., it sounds like a story worth telling for a third time in a trilogy saga against the Rapids.
Rooklidge played his part like a true professional once again and knocked down five three-pointers and led R.A. Long with 19 points in a wire-to-wire 58-50 win over Columbia River for the fifth straight time in the rivalry. Fellow senior, Landon Irwin was right behind Rooklidge with 18 points and the “Crocodile Hunter” came up clutch in the fourth going 7-8 from the free throw line down the stretch to keep the Rapids at bay.
Rooklidges’ next starring role in a film might see him portrayed as “The Columbia River Killer” after the season he’s had against the Rapids. He nailed two game winning 3-pointers in the first two games and came into game with an insane amount of energy and a little pep in his step.
“When I’m pumped up, I have all that adrenaline in me and it’s easier to hit shots when you’re so into the game,” said Rooklidge. “And it really helped that my teammates were able to find me open, and I was also able to hit a couple contested shots as well.”
Oh, it might also be worth mentioning that Rooklidge is a multi-sport athlete on the baseball diamond as well and doesn’t have the fondest of memories against Columbia River.
“I guess there’s also a little grudge I still have against them after losing to them in baseball last season for the league championship,” added Rooklidge.
Whatever the motivation might be to get the Jacks in the right frame of mind, one thing is certain: It’s working.
R.A. Long (23-0) remains perfect on the season and has already punched its ticket to the State Tournament for the fifth straight season. The Jacks also set a date with Tumwater on Saturday night to battle for the District championship once again, something the boys in red and black have done now four times in the last five seasons.
The Lumberjacks won last season against Mark Morris and have won three out of the last four overall going back to 2021-22.
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