CARLSBAD — Playing against one of the tallest and bulkiest front lines in the county, Pacific Ridge needed to shoot well.

It didn’t happen as the Firebirds went 4-for-26 from behind the 3-point arc and fell 50-45 to Army-Navy on Friday in a key Pacific League game.

Pacific Ridge (17-6, 1-2) has the tallest player in the county in 6-foot-11 Malik Jalllon.

But Army-Navy (16-8, 2-1) counters with 6-8 Ernest Donkoh, 6-7 Ivan Marchenko, 6-6 Kevin Sun, 6-5 Bentlee Easterday and 6-4 Yanler Ramos.

Marchenko finished with 15 points and 17 rebounds.

Sun had six points and five rebounds. Donkoh, seeing his first action in a month, had two points and five rebounds. Ramos had 12 points and seven rebounds. Point guard Skyler Dawson added 10 points.

Most of Army-Navy’s players come from other countries. The Warriors dominated for a stretch 10-12 years ago, boasting foreign students 7-1 Cheikh N’Diaye, 6-6 Akhad Diata, Aziz Seck, Richard Polanco and JC Canahute.

Plus, they had local guards Caleb Morris, Ed Fenzi, Brad Nowakowski and Devin Watson.

The foreign connection dried up, and the Warriors went from 20-game winners to a 3-21 season in 2022-23.

But the foreign students are back and in a big way.

Marchenko, a solidly-built 6-7 senior, is from the Ukraine.

Kevin is from China.

Ramos is from the Dominican Republic and has committed to an NCAA Division II college in Oklahoma.

Donkoh, a sophomore from Ghana, has missed most of the season with a stress fracture in his foot, but is healthy and playing now.

“We’re big and strong, that’s for sure,” said Army-Navy coach Terry Ryan. “We play great defense and are a pretty good half-court offensive team.

“Donkoh hit the weight room, got stronger while he was out. He’s going to help us down the stretch.”

Jallon only scored two points, but had four rebounds and blocked five shots.

He made things tough down low for Army-Navy’s big men.

“I got a call from the admissions office saying they had a student in the office who was looking at our school … and he’s 6-foot-11,” said Pacific Ridge coach Chris Burman. “He wanted to come to the States and play basketball. Because of international transfer rules, he had to go to a private school.

“He liked our school, and he has fit in really well. He’s a quiet kid, but his personality is starting to come out.”

But can he play? He’s averaging double figures in scoring and is close in rebounds.

But at 6-11, he’s barely 200 pounds.

“So he needs to keep playing,” Burman said. “He’s looking at prep schools or many a junior college. He hasn’t played 50 games in the summer like a lot of high school kids, so he needs game experience.

“He has some skill. Our school record for dunks in a season was three. He had four in one quarter. With a little more experience, he can play in college.”

“We’re big and strong, that’s for sure,” said Army-Navy coach Terry Ryan. “We play great defense and are a pretty good half-court offensive team.” ◄ Army-Navy went on a 9-0 in the second quarter and led 26-19 at the halftime break.

Pacific Ridge was held to five points in the second quarter. The Firebirds’ lone field goal was by Gavin Fletcher, the last basket of the half.

Army-Navy pushed the advantage to 11 in the fourth quarter before Pacific Ridge finally got some shots to fall.

Gavin Fletcher led the Firebirds with 21 points. Alex Besio added 11, including a trio of 3-pointers.

“We needed to shoot better, plain and simple,” said Berman.