Senior Sara Barhoum made five three-pointers to help lead Clackamas past Tualatin 55-53 on Thursday night. (Photo by J.R. Olson)

TUALATIN – Senior-led Clackamas leaned on its experience to win 55-53 at up-and-coming Tualatin in a showdown between the top two ranked teams in the OSAAtoday 6A girls basketball coaches poll Thursday night.

Senior Jazzy Davidson scored 28 points and senior Sara Barhoum added 15 points on five three-pointers – including two clutch shots in the fourth quarter – as the No. 1 Cavaliers pinned the No. 2 Timberwolves with their first loss of the season.

Clackamas (7-2), unbeaten against Oregon teams, was eager for the nonleague challenge against Tualatin (8-1), which features a dynamic freshman point guard in Love Lei Best.

“We're really competitive girls, and we all want to be the best team,” said Davidson, who is averaging 28.4 points per game. “They kind of remind us of us when we were freshmen. So it's really cool to see them come out and have all the success, but yeah, we obviously want to beat them.”

The Cavaliers survived a tight contest that had 13 lead changes. They took the lead for good when Barhoum hit a three-pointer to make it 51-48 with 2:22 remaining.

“They're a really talented team, so it was awesome getting to play them, especially before the playoffs,” Barhoum said. “It was a big win for us.”

The USC-bound Davidson, a 6-foot-1 left-handed guard, scored 17 points in the second half. She also was clutch down the stretch, making all four of her free throws in the last 33 seconds to keep Tualatin at bay.

Tualatin entered allowing 28.6 points per game with its suffocating 2-3 zone defense. But Clackamas made nine three-pointers, getting five from Barhoum and two each from Davidson and senior guard Allie Roden. It was the most points Tualatin has allowed this season.

“It's probably the best defense in the state right now, I feel like, other than ours,” Davidson said. “We were kind of playing on our heels in the first half. Whenever we would attack the zone, good things would come out of it, like paint touches and kick-out threes. But when we were kind of stagnant on the perimeter is when we would get into trouble.

“It wasn't our best game, but we got the win, so that's all that matters.”

Leading 51-48, the Cavaliers stripped Best of the ball in the lane, leading to two free throws from Davidson for a 53-48 edge with 33 seconds to go.

Best went to the line for two free throws with 23 seconds left. She made the first, missed the second, but Tualatin senior post Jordyn Smith rebounded and scored to make it 53-51 with 19 seconds remaining.

Davidson extended the lead to 55-51 by making two free throws with seven seconds left. Tualatin junior Maaya Lucas scored on a putback at the buzzer for the final margin.

It was the third narrow victory this season for Clackamas. The Cavaliers edged No. 6 Willamette 66-65 in overtime in the season opener and defeated Faith Family (Texas) 63-61 in overtime in the POA Holiday Classic on Monday.

“We've kind of got a feel for it,” Barhoum said of the pressure situations.

The University of Oregon-bound Barhoum had three three-pointers to help Clackamas lead 27-25 at half. She hit her fourth three-pointer midway through the fourth quarter, putting the Cavaliers up 46-44.

“She's a shooter,” Davidson said of Barhoum. “That's what she does, she hits shots in big moments. That was huge for us.”

Barhoum knew she would get her chances to fire away against Tualatin's defense.

“Yeah, especially with their zone, just to find the pocket, when I'm open,” she said.

Best and Smith each scored 16 points to lead Tualatin. The 5-foot-5 Best, who entered the game as the team's leading scorer with a 17.1 average, had her moments but also struggled at times against the bigger, physical Cavaliers.

“We were just trying to make it difficult, trying to get the ball out of her hands, pressure her when she had the ball,” Barhoum said. “She's an awesome player, so it was great playing against her.”

Davidson said of Best: “I feel like we did as well as anybody's going to do on her. She's a great offensive player who's really crafty.”

Clackamas' full-court pressure flustered Tualatin at times, particularly in the third quarter, when the Timberwolves coughed up a handful of turnovers in the backcourt.

“We can get better, and we are going to get better,” Best said. “I'm excited to play them again. I feel like our game, we have a lot of things to work on. But we did fight hard, and we didn't give up.

“Hopefully we can play them again at the Chiles Center.”