Churchill coach Kelly Bokn, a former longtime Redmond coach, watches his team play against Redmond at Gill Coliseum in Corvallis on Saturday.

CORVALLIS — It was a third-place game that had the feel of a state championship finale.No. 1 Redmond and No. 2 Churchill battled to the bitter end to finish their fantastic seasons with a victory Saturday at Gill Coliseum in the Class 5A boys basketball state tournament.

In the end, the Lancers withstood a furious Panthers’ comeback to send retiring coach Kelly Bokn — a former longtime Redmond coach — into the sunset on a winning note with a 67-66 win. While Churchill took third place, Redmond settled for fifth place.

“Unforgettable season with the guys,” said Redmond coach Reagan Gilbertson. “It’s not about the wins and losses. This is a special group of young men. Our goal was to win a state championship, but we played our hearts out, we just absolutely battled. It just shows what kind of people they are and what grit they have.”

The game was tied 34-34 at halftime, but the Lancers went on a run in the third quarter to take a 46-39 lead by the end of the period.

A 3-pointer by Samaje Morgan gave Churchill a 65-61 lead with 55 seconds left, but Redmond kept it close, and a Tanner Jones’ 3-pointer cut the lead to 67-66 with 8 seconds left. But the Lancers were able to run out the clock with smart passing on the ensuing possession.

Garrett Osborne led Redmond with 28 points. Evan Otten added 14 points and 18 rebounds, and Nathan Wachs finished with 10 points and five assists.

“It was a special season for sure,” Osborne said. “We were a lot better than I thought we ever would have been. It’s something special that I will remember for a long time.”

Otten said he will remember this season as “playing basketball with my best friends.”

“You’re making deeper friendships,” Otten said. “The season was awesome. Coming into this No. 1 and going 10-0 in league, that was awesome. I will never forget this season.”

Morgan led Churchill with 28 points, seven assists and three steals.

“He’s a special player, on both ends of the floor,” Gilbertson said of Morgan.

“We didn’t want to let him do everything. What we didn’t account for was his quickness and anticipation on the defensive end.”

Redmond loses just three seniors so next season, and beyond, looks bright.

“We’ve got a program now that should be competitive for many years,” Gilbertson said.

‘Poetic’ ending for Bokn

Bokn has been the basketball coach and athletic director at Churchill for the past 14 years. Before that, he was the coach at Redmond for 14 years, from 1994 to 2008. Gilbertson, a Redmond High graduate, was a standout player on Bokn’s Redmond teams from 1997 to 2000.

“He is the reason I wanted to become a coach in the first place,” Gilbertson said of Bokn.

“It’s pretty poetic for my last game to be against Redmond, and against Reagan (Gilbertson),” Bokn said. “There were a lot of thoughts going through my mind. It was really a cool game. I got to see a lot of people before the game, a lot of my past history. It’s neat that Reagan is doing such a great job over there. They’ve got a great team.”

Bokn’s Redmond teams made the postseason 13 out of 14 seasons, including eight state tournament berths. Bokn won a state championship in 2003 with the Panthers, who were led by Maarty Leunen.

Leunen, who went on to a stellar career at Oregon and as a professional player overseas, served as an assistant coach for Redmond this season. Leunen was not in Corvallis on Saturday because he was coaching the Redmond eighth-grade boys basketball team in the middle school state tournament in Redmond.

“He texted me and gave me some good wishes,” Bokn said of Leunen. “We’ve stayed in touch.”

Bokn, 58, said that he and his wife plan to move back to her hometown of Nampa, Idaho.

“I’ll try to learn how to play golf, I guess,” Bokn said. “I’ve been in the gym a long time, I never really learned how to play golf.”