RANCHO CUCAMONGA — The Etiwanda boys basketball team’s second game in a week against Damien proved to be more complicated than its first encounter, but the Eagles were able to secure the victory Friday in the Baseline League tournament semifinals.

Etiwanda handed the Spartans a 17-point loss during league play last week, but the Eagles needed all of their 17-point, fourth-quarter lead Friday to stave off the Spartans for a 43-41 victory.

Despite being outscored 20-8 in the fourth quarter, Etiwanda (17-10, 5-1) advanced to the championship game when Damien (20-10, 4-2) missed a potential game-tying shot in the final seconds that would have sent the game to overtime.

The Eagles were paced by junior forward Ayden Hamilton, who finished with a game-high 11 points, eight rebounds and two blocks.

Etiwanda will travel to play top-seeded Rancho Cucamonga on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. in the league tournament championship game. The Cougars defeated Los Osos 88-57 in the other semifinal.

“We finally played the kind of defense we’ve been trying to play all season,” Etiwanda coach Danny Ryan said. “We played the defense we were hoping to play tonight, but we started to make all the mental mistakes in the fourth quarter. We turned the ball over a few times and took a few bad shots. We gave up an offensive rebound late that turned into a (3-pointer). Those were all things we were doing for the first three quarters.”

Even after Etiwanda built a double-digit lead at halftime and extended its least to 17 points at the 5:22 mark in the fourth quarter, the Spartans did not fold.

Instead, the Spartans battled back and cut the lead to single digits at 43-36, thanks to two 3-pointers by Spartans sophomore guard Zaire Rasshan.

A tough reverse layup by Damien junior Elijah Smith brought the game within two points 43-41, with 17.1 seconds left.

But the Spartans’ rally came up just short as junior Eli Gardner missed a baseline jumper at the buzzer.

Gardner and Rasshan finished with 10 points each.

Damien will travel to play Los Osos in Wednesday’s third-place game of the league tournament. The winner gets an automatic playoff berth while the loser has to apply for an at-large berth.

Damien used a 2-3 zone to much success throughout the first quarter, forcing the Eagles to rely on 3-pointers. But the Spartans also struggled on the offensive side of the floor as they settled for long midrange jump shots, making only 2 of 10 shots from the field.

Etiwanda hit 2 of 6 from beyond the arc and took a 12-5 lead into the second quarter.

Many of the same offensive woes continued in the second quarter for Etiwanda and Damien. After opening the second quarter with baskets on back-to-back possessions to cut the Eagles’ lead to three 12-9, the Spartans were outscored 11-2 the rest of the way.

Despite attacking the paint with some success, Damien’s offensive struggles spilled over into their success at the free-throw line, sinking 2 of 8 in the quarter.

Etiwanda’s 11-2 run gave the Eagles a 23-11 lead at halftime.