Playing in their first 4A Kingco contest of the season in front of a raucous home crowd, the Redmond Mustangs lost a heartbreaker to the Newport Knights, 45-44, in a thrilling Crest Division showdown Friday night.

Both teams came in riding a wave of confidence, having handily defeated their previous opponents. Back on Dec. 2, Redmond beat Juanita 67-38 in its season opener, and Newport trounced Eastlake 66-42 last Tuesday.

Redmond had a chance to win Friday’s game in the waning seconds, but Will Ellis’ 3-pointer from the corner missed wide and long as the Knights pulled out the narrow win.

Although it was a tough loss to swallow, Redmond coach Jeff Larson said that Thursday’s game will serve as a wake-up call, showing that there are no gimmes in the tough 4A Kingco league, even against a team like the Knights, who had a losing record last season playing in 3A Kingco.

“We’re going to choose to look at this as a positive, and realize that every game’s going to be like this for the rest of the season,” said Redmond coach Jeff Larson. “What’s done is done. We just have to go back to work.”

Newport’s Richard Woodworth, who scored a game-high 23 points, gave the Knights a 45-44 lead with a clutch jumper with 16.9 seconds left to play. Larson immediately called a timeout and set up a play for Ellis, who couldn’t get a good look against Newport’s stingy defense.

Redmond senior guard Chris Harrington led the Mustangs with 11 points on 5-for-8 shooting and teammate Justin Alexander added seven points. Four other players scored six points each.

While the Mustangs did a good job of spreading around the offensive output, miscues ultimately led to their downfall.

“The biggest thing that hurt us was that we had too many turnovers,” Larson said. “We didn’t play Redmond basketball. Our motion and spacing was bad, we didn’t trust each other, didn’t set screens or use screens.”

Another startling statistic was that the Mustangs, normally solid from long range, were just 2 for 19 from beyond the arc.

“Two-for-19 is probably too many threes, but we shoot much better than that,” Larson said.

The Knights put pressure on the home squad early, posting a 5-0 lead in the first minute and a half of play.

Redmond senior guard Chris Harrington led the offense in the first half, taking six of the Mustangs’ first eight shots, including a beautiful drive to the hoop as part of a 6-0 run, which gave Redmond its first lead in the game.

Newport was 5 of 8 from the field in the first quarter, including 2-for-2 from beyond the arc, as the Knights built a 14-13 lead going into the second quarter.

The Mustangs countered in the second quarter, preventing the Knights from penetrating to the hoop and getting good looks at the basket, as Newport shot just 3 of 8.

A couple of minutes into the second quarter, Redmond’s Justin Alexander, a 6-foot-5 forward, went to the hoop for a layup and drew contact, setting up a three-point play that tied the score at 16-16. The Mustangs carried the momentum forwaard, scoring 10 of the next 14 points to lead 26-20 at the half.

The Mustangs (11-for-22) and Knights (8-for-16) both shot exactly 50 percent in the first half.

“We knew they were physical, we knew they liked to dribble penetrate,” said Larson, who said his team emphasized rebounding coming into the game. “I thought the first half we did okay with (rebounding), but the second half we gave up some critical rebounds.”

The second half began with the Woodworth show, much to the dislike of the home fans.

The 6-3 senior guard – a 3A Kingco first-team selection as a sophomore – scored the first seven points of the half, including an authoritative fast-break slam dunk that silenced the crowd, as Newport took a 27-26 lead.

Yet, the Mustangs were still able to hold the Knights at bay. Redmond ran the clock down to set up the final play of the third quarter, which included a brilliant cross-court pass to junior guard Phil Leland, who drained his second 3-pointer of the game from the corner to give his team a 38-34 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.

Redmond struggled with its shooting in the final frame and was held scoreless in the first 2:35. The Mustangs shot just 1 of 5 from the field and scored just six points in the fourth quarter as Newport, fueled by Woodworth, handed the Mustangs a hard-to-swallow, early-season loss.