So close to No. 1 — about a half-second, perhaps, and about 10 inches — and the zero became no more.

So did the hopes of No. 1.

East Valley’s hope of an undefeated run through a season and the Class 2A state tournament ran into a white-and-blue wall in Friday’s semifinals — jerseys of the Lynden Christian Lyncs who closed off the inside, grabbed all the big rebounds and came away with a 37-35 victory in an absolute thriller.

After leading early and trailing late, the Red Devils had a shot to win it at the end — a hurried, 20-foot 3-point attempt by Brittany Alexieff, a senior reserve who had already hit two big shots in the final period, one of them a trey of similar length.

“If we’d had maybe one more second on the clock,” East Valley coach Robi Raab sighed, noting those harried final seconds after Arianna Mohsenian rebounded a missed free throw by Lyncs senior Jenna Reed with a dozen seconds remaining.

“But Brittany Alexieff has hit so many buzzer-beaters in the three years I’ve been here, and when she spotted up, I thought, ‘It’s gonna happen.’”

It — a trip to Saturday’s championship game to face King’s — almost did.

But the shot flew long, by about those 10 inches.

“What a great high school basketball game,” Raab said.

Indeed. Well-played by the Red Devils (25-1), who committed just six turnovers, and just a little bit better played by the Lyncs (24-2), who were challenged by coach Curt DeHaan to turn their height into a rebounding advantage — something they had not done well in their previous two games.

“They (the Devils) were one of strongest rebounding teams in the tournament, and we were one of the weakest,” DeHaan said, referring to the tourney statistics. “So that was a challenge for the kids. They stepped up.”

Stepping up biggest of all was freshman forward Kenzie De Boer and senior center Kristin Berendsen, who grabbed 11 and eight rebounds, respectively, to help the Lyncs to a 40-28 edge on the boards. De Boer also scored six of her nine points in the second half, including a baseline-driving layup with 3:38 remaining that made it 36-31.

“The post sealed it off for me,” De Boer said of her drive, which could have been a knockout blow to the Devils — but wasn’t. Alexieff, who had swished a 3-pointer a couple of minutes earlier, banked home a running nine-footer. Mohsenian and Jessica Huntington combined on a steal, Tana Stickney hit Brittnee Lee inside for a basket and, suddenly, the Devils were within a point.

Over the final 1:38, East Valley missed a couple of opportunities but the Lyncs kept leaving the door open, missing four of five free throws — the last being Reed’s at 0:13. Three Red Devils had the ball at one point or another in the next frantic moments, but none had a shot until the ball reached Alexieff ... and she only had a split-second to launch before the clock hit :00.

It missed. The zero in that perfect record became a one.

And Lynden Christian is in the championship game against King’s, which defeated it a week ago in the Northwest District final.

“That’s one of the things about being in the underdog role,” DeHaan said. “The girls were relaxed. They had everything to gain and nothing to lose — and I think the same thing will hold true tomorrow.”

East Valley’s girls must now find a way to get excited about facing Pullman for third place at 5 p.m.

“I’m so proud of our girls,” Raab said. “They played so hard.”

One second. A few inches.

East Valley (Yakima) -- Alexieff 2-6 0-0 5, Mohsenian 1-12 2-2 4, Lee 3-9 0-2 6, Price 0-7 0-0 0, Valicoff 0-0 0-0 0, Jacobs 1-3 0-0 2, Huck 0-1 0-0 0, Huntington 2-7 2-2 8, Stickney 4-8 2-2 10, Reid 0-1 0-0 0, Walker 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 13-54 6-8 35.
Lynden Christian -- S. De Boer 0-0 0-0 0, Brandsma 1-2 0-0 2, Ryan 4-11 0-1 9, K. De Boer 4-9 1-5 9, Bailey 0-0 0-0 0, Berendsen 3-7 2-3 8, Reed 3-7 3-5 9. Totals 15-36 6-14 37.
East Valley (Yakima)	12	5	7	11	--	35
Lynden Christian	8	9	9	11	--	37
3-point goals--EV 3-23 (Huntington 2-5, Alexieff 1-4, Stickney 0-1, Reid 0-1, Huck 0-1, Mohsenian 0-2, Lee 0-4, Price 0-5), LC 1-6 (Ryan 1-4, K. De Boer 0-1, Reed 0-1). Rebounds--EV 28 (Mohsenian 10), LC 40 (K. De Boer 11). Assists--EV 9 (Huntington 4), LC 7 (Brandsma 3). Steals--EV 8 (Lee 4), LC 2 (K. De Boer 2). Blocked shots--EV 2, LC 0. Fouled out--K. De Boer. Total fouls--EV 16, LC 12. Technical fouls--None. Turnovers--EV 6, LC 14.