By T.J. Cotterill

Brittany McPhee dominated in a quarterfinal victory against Inglemoor on Thursday with 28 points, 15 rebounds. She followed with 34 points and 14 rebounds against No. 1 Mead in the 4A semifinals Friday night.

Dominant? Absolutely, especially as she scored 12 straight points in the fourth quarter to pull the Rams within one-point after trailing by 12 to start the third quarter.

Enough? Not quite.

Mount Rainier couldn’t complete the double-digit comeback as the second-ranked Rams fell, 51-50, against top-ranked Mead despite a huge night from The News Tribune all-area player.

The Rams will miss out on the state title games for a third consecutive season.

“I just don’t think we ever really formed an offensive cohesion,” Mount Rainier coach Bob Bolam said. “We needed to find other weapons to help us win this game. Brittany carried us most of the time, We could have used some other weapons.”

McPhee took the ball up the court with 12.6 second to go, the Rams trailing 51-50. But she found herself triple-teamed in the corner. She gave it up to Jordan McPhee, her twin sister, but her buzzer-beating shot missed off the rim as Mead secured their first trip to the state title game since they placed second in 2010.