NORTH BEND — The visiting Sutherlin boys basketball team earned the Far West League’s second seed for the Class 4A state playoffs by beating North Bend 68-65 in a double-overtime thriller Saturday.

Bradley Seehawer hit the winning 3-pointer in the final seconds for Sutherlin, capping a night in which he had five treys and a game-high 22 points.

North Bend beat Sutherlin during both regular-season meetings and finished second to Brookings-Harbor in the final regular-season standings.

Both teams open the playoffs at home on Wednesday, but Sutherlin has the easier road to the state tournament in Corvallis.

Sutherlin hosts Phoenix in the first round, with the winner traveling to Capital Conference champion Cascade in the second round.

North Bend, on the other hand, opens with Molalla on Wednesday, with the winner hitting the road on a long drive to face top-ranked La Grande on Saturday.

“We always seem to have the lead by seven or 10 points and then lose it,” said Sutherlin coach Tony Martineau. “Tonight we slowed it down and made good decisions.”

The game was intense from the start as neither team could gain an edge until late in the first quarter, when the visiting Bulldogs led 16-11.

This gap would remain until the second half when North Bend returned looking like a completely different team. North Bend’s Andrew Slack opened the half with a 3-pointer, followed by a turn-around jumper from Elliot Adams. After two steals, two layins and a long jumper from Luke Clark, North Bend had an 11-point scoring run, gaining its first advantage since the first quarter. The lead was short-lived, however, as Seehawer knocked down three consecutive treys, boosting Sutherlin to a 41-34 lead at the end of the third quarter.

Again the host Bulldogs came out hard early as Jake Lucero stole the ball from the visiting Bulldogs in the opening seconds and dished to Slack for an easy layin. Lucero then nailed a 3-point-shot and Clark added three long field goals, bringing North Bend to within one point.

With 42 seconds left on the clock, Seehawer sank one free throw, giving Sutherlin a 49-47 edge.

Adams got the ball in the paint on North Bend’s side and scored two points on a layup, tying the game at 49 with seconds left on the clock.

Caleb Trowbridge attempted a last-ditch reverse layin to win the game and missed, falling to the ground in a heap of players.

After three more minutes of back-and-forth play in the opening overtime, Adams sank a free throw to tie the game at 56, where it remained until the buzzer.

The second overtime was all about free throws and 3-point shots, as the teams traded the lead and continued the physical play that had become a norm for the night.

“We practice for it (physical play),” said Adams.

Trowbridge hit two free throws late in the period giving Sutherlin a 3-point cushion at 65-62.

Lucero tied the game with a 3-pointer with only seconds remaining.

However, before anyone could blink an eye, Seehawer was setting up a 3-pointer from his hot spot in the left corner, which he nailed, sealing the game for Sutherlin.

The outcome was not expected by both North Bend players and coaches even though they hadn’t played a full game in a week.

“We were really out of sync,” said North Bend coach John Olson. “They are a team we should have beat by as much as we beat them in the second half.”

The loss did not deal a huge blow to North Bend as the team still has confidence going into the state tournament.

“We didn’t play our best and we’re just as confident as if we had won,” said Adams. “We didn’t have to win, it would be tough either way.”

Adams had double-doubles for North Bend with 19 points  and 12 rebounds.

Cameron Potts added 15 points for the host Bulldogs while Clark scored 10 points.

After Seehawer, Sutherlin’s high scorers were Spencer Hutchings with 14 points while Trowbridge added 11 points and the same number of rebounds.

Notes: Admission is $6 for adults and $4 for students for this week’s first-round and second-round games. North Bend’s girls travel to Marist on Tuesday in a first-round matchup, with the winner heading to North Marion on Friday.