TACOMA — Bethel's two 6-foot-8 inside players morphed from slumbering giants to aggressive game-changers last night as the Braves came from behind to beat Mountlake Terrace 47-44 at the Tacoma Dome to advance to tonight's Class 4A boys basketball championship game against Kentwood.

The taut game wasn't decided until the final possession, which was a turnover by Terrace.

Bethel, a Pierce County school, had added extra suspense to the game by missing two fourth-quarter dunks.

With 3:50 to play, Jamil Turner missed a dunk on a breakaway with no Hawk within 30 feet of him and Bethel leading 45-41. Then, at 2:33, Alex Tiefenthaler missed a dunk in traffic with the Braves still up 44-41.

"We're not going to hammer on it," said Bethel coach Pat Mullen said of the dunk attempts. "It won't happen again. What I liked about it, though, was that after every missed dunk we got a stop."

A three-point basket by Terrace's Christiaan Hammond cut the lead to 45-44 with 2:30 left.

The teams exchanged charging fouls, then Hammond gave Mountlake Terrace a chance to go ahead by calling a timeout as he was going out of bounds with the ball after it had been slapped loose from Jordan Sutton by Leigh Swanson.

Adrian Blake missed a shot — Terrace fans thought he was fouled — with 10.8 seconds left, and Brandon Moore got the rebound for Bethel and was fouled. He sank both free throws for the final points.

Moore, 6-8, had been held to two points and didn't have a rebound in the first half, but finished with 11 points and eight rebounds. Tiefenthaler, also 6-8, had only two points and three rebounds in the first half but finished with seven points and eight rebounds.

Moore, who will play at Eastern Washington, said, "I think Alex and I finally realized that if we try to go to the basket, we're going to get fouls called for us and we're going to make things happen."

Bethel made 9 of 13 free throws while Terrace hit 2 of 3. The Braves' Sutton led all scorers with 16 points.

It will be the second trip for Bethel (27-2) to the title game in the new century when the Braves face Kentwood, a team they defeated 59-52 on Feb. 19.

In the 2000 title game, the Braves lost to Foss of Tacoma 59-47. The Braves finished third last year after losing to South Kitsap in the semifinals. Bethel's only championship was in 1970, when it won the AA (now 3A) title with a 53-51 victory over Bothell.

Terrace led last night after every quarter except the all-important fourth. The Hawks (21-6) were an impressive 8 for 15 from three-point range.

Craig Smith: 206-464-8279 or csmith@seattletimes.com