Pirates win twice
The Prairie Pirates extended their winning streak to 3 games with home wins over Orofino and Genesee last week. On Wednesday, Jan. 3 they hosted Orofino and won 54-47. On Friday, Jan. 5, Lee Forsmann scored with 2.7 seconds left to give Prairie a 51-50 league win over Genesee at Cottonwood.
Forsmann had a huge game against Orofino as he poured in 35 points and grabbed 16 rebounds.
Orofino led early on with their final lead coming on a 3-pointer that made it 9-11 with 5:16 left in the first quarter. Forsmann responded with a 3 that put Prairie ahead for good. That also kicked off a 12-0 run for the Pirates. Riley Shears drove the baseline for a lay-up then Forsmann added a lay-up, 2 free throws and another 3 to make it 21-11.
After an Orofino basket, Phil Schwartz  scored to give Prairie a 23-13 lead at the end of the opening quarter.
Orofino opened the second quarter with a 1-5 run with Forsmann scoring a free throw, to get back within 6 at 24-18. Forsmann then was the only player to score in the final 3:20 of the half as he scored 6 straight points on a lob inbounds pass from Noah Behler, a lay-up with an assist from Schwartz and a drive to the hoop in the final seconds as Prairie took a 30-18 halftime lead.
Forsmann had 24 points and 14 rebounds in the first half.
In the third quarter Forsmann scored just 1 points but Shears sank a 3-pointer, Schwartz scored a basket and Logan Weber and Briggs Rambo each made a free throw as Prairie took a 38-29 lead into the fourth quarter.
Orofino was able to outscored Prairie 6-14 over the first 5:30 of the fourth quarter to cut the lead to just 1 point at 44-43 with 2:39 to play. Trenton Lorentz then converted a 3-point play to put Prairie back on top by 4.
After an Orofino basket, Forsmann sank a 3 to make it a 5-point lead. After another Orofino basket, Forsmann hit another 3 with 28 seconds left to put Prairie up 53-47. Behler closed out the scoring with a free throw.
Lorentz
Lorentz was Prairie’s second leading scorer with 7 points with Shears scoring 5, Schwartz 4 and Behler, Rambo and Weber 1 each.
Prairie had a 43-28 advantage on the boards.
Behler and Lorentz had 2 steals each while Behler had 5 assists.
The Pirates were 20 for 49 from the field, 41%, and 9 for 17 at the line, 53%. Orofino was 20 for 59 from the field, 34%, and 1 for 5 at the line, 20%.
Orofino won the JV game 46-54.
The Maniacs dominated the first quarter, outscoring Prairie 4-20. Jackson Enneking and Levi Gehring each scored a basket for Prairie in the quarter.
In the second quarter Phil Schwartz and Nate Forsmann subbed in and helped Prairie get back into the game. Schwartz hit 3 straight 3-pointers to open the second quarter and added a lay-up following a steal by Cole Duclos as he scored the first 11 points of the period.
Orofino broke their scoring drought with 5 straight points then Forsmann scored 6 of Prairie’s next 7 points with Enneking adding a free throw as Prairie cut the deficit to 8 by halftime, 22-30.
Prairie opened the second half with a 10-4 run to cut their deficit to just 2 points at 32-34 with 4:18 left in the quarter. Forsmann scored 6 of those points while Max Rehder and Gehring each scored 2.
Orofino then responded with a 0-11 run to take control  again. Caden Armbrust closed out the quarter with a 3-pointer to make it 35-48 after 3 quarters.
Three times Prairie got within 6 points in the fourth quarter but could get no closer.
Collin Ray scored 5 in the quarter while Ben Secrest scored 4 and Gehring 2.
Forsmann wound up as the leading scorer with 12 points with Schwartz scoring 11, Gehring 6, Ray 5, Secrest 4, Enneking and Armbrust 3 each and Rehder 2.
Orofino had a 25-40 advantage on the boards. Gehring led the Pirates with 6 rebounds.
Ray had 3 steals and 4 assists.
The JV’s were 19 for 54 from the field, 35%, and 3 for 6 at the line, 50%. Orofino was 21 for 49 from the field, 43%, and 9 for 13 at the line, 69%.
Prairie   23 7   8 16 -54
Orofino 13 5 11 18 -47
Prairie-Wemhoff 0-1, 0-0, 0; Shears 2-5, 0-2, 5; Lorentz 3-9, 1-1, 7; Behler 0-4, 1-2, 1; L. Forsmann 13-23, 5-8, 35; Schwartz 2-4, 0-0, 4; Rambo 0-2, 1-2, 1; Weber 0-0, 1-2, 1; N. Forsmann 0-0, 0-0, 0. 3-pointers-L. Forsmann 4, Shears.
Orofino-Bonner 1-3, 1-2, 3; Schneider 3-14, 0-0, 8; Runia 4-10, 0-0, 10; Cochran 6-20, 0-2, 13; Olive 2-3, 0-0, 4; Naranjo 3-5, 0-0, 7; Hudson 1-2, 0-0, 2; Connolly 0-2, 0-2, 0. 3-pointers-Schneider 2, Runia 2, Cochran, Naranjo.
Lee Forsmann had another big game against Genesee as he scored 23 points, including the game-winner, and 11 rebounds.
Behler got the scoring started when he scored a lay-up off an inbounds feed from Matt Wemhoff. Shears then scored after making a steal to make it 4-0.
Genesee tied it at 4 then Forsmann scored  a putback and a lay-up to make it 8-4. A 3 by Genesee was answered with a 3 by Forsmann to make it 11-7. Behler then scored a putback for a 13-7 lead.
Genesee came back to tie it at 16 before Shears scored to give Prairie an 18-16 lead at the quarter break.
Genesee tied it again at 19 in the second quarter but a 6-0 run followed for the Pirates with Shears making a 3, Wemhoff a free throw and Forsmann a putback.
Genesee outscored Prairie 4-7 the rest of the half to pull within 3 at the break 26-29. Weber scored a basket and Schwartz and Forsmann added a free throw each for the Pirates in that final stretch of the half.
Forsmann opened the second half with 2 free throws then Genesee scored 4 straight to pull within 1.
After a basket and a free throw by Forsmann, Genesee scored 5 straight to take their first lead of the game at 34-35 with 2:36 left in the third quarter.
Weber tied it with a free throw then Genesee scored to take a 2-point lead. Prairie came back with 5 straight points to retake the lead. Forsmann scored a lay-up. Schwartz stole the ball and scored and Forsmann made a free throw to make it 40-37 with 1 minute to play in the third.
Genesee then scored 2 baskets to take a 40-41 lead into the fourth quarter.
Behler scored on an inbounds play to put Prairie back on top but Genesee then scored 5 straight to take their biggest lead of the game at 42-46 with 5:28 to play.
Lorentz and Forsmann each scored to tie the game at 46. After a basket by Genesee, Wemhoff made 2 free throws to tie it at 48 with 1:30 to play.
Genesee made a free throw with 47 seconds left to retake the lead. Forsmann tied it with a free throw by Forsmann with 23 seconds left.
Genesee made the second of 2 free throws with 14.6 seconds left to take a 49-50 lead.
Prairie worked the ball around until Wemhoff passed to Forsmann on the low block on the left side of the hoop. Forsmann turned and banked in a lay-up with 0.8 seconds left on the clock. Genesee called timeout and time was added back to make it 2.7 seconds remaining. Prairie set their defense to force Genesee to inbound the ball within 20 feet of the baseline and their desperation three-quarter court shot missed at the buzzer.
Shears was the Pirates second leading scorer with 10 points despite missing much of the second half after leaving the game with an injury. Behler scored 7. Wemhoff, Schwartz and Weber scored 3 each and Lorentz scored 2.
Prairie had a 39-28 rebounding advantage. Behler added 9 rebounds.
Wemhoff had 5 steals and 4 assists. Lorentz had 4 steals and Forsmann 3 steals.
Prairie was 18 for 47 from the field, 38%, and 12 for 24 at the line, 50%. Genesee was 20 for 47 from the field, 43%, and 6 for 15 at the line, 40%.
The Pirates are now 4-4 on the season and 1-4 in league play.
Prairie also won the JV game 44-37.
Genesee jumped out to a 0-9 lead but Prairie came back to outscore the Bulldoogs 11-5 the rest of the first quarter. Secrest got them on the scoreboard with 3:30 left and Chase VonBargen followed with a basket. Gehring scored a pair of baskets and Rehder closed out the quarter with one of his high arching 3-pointers to make it 11-14.
Schwartz sank a 3 to tie it in the second quarter. Genesee answered with a free throw for what turned out to be their final lead of the game. Forsmann scored a lay-up to put Prairie into the lead and that started a 13-0 run for the Pirates. Schwartz scored the next 7 points on a 3 and a pair of 2’s. Ray scored a basket and Duclos made 2 free throws to make it 27-15. Genesee finally got back into the scoring column to make it 27-17 at the half.
Secrest scored a basket and a free throw to open the second half and put Prairie up by 13 at 30-17.
Genesee managed to cut the lead down to 33-26 by the end of the quarter as Prairie got just a basket by Forsmann and a free throw by Gehring against 9 points by Genesee.
Two baskets by Secrest and a runner by Gehring put Prairie up 39-29 with 3:01 left to play. Genesee then got a 3-pointer and 3 free throws to pull within 4 at 39-35 with 1:53 to play.
Enneking scored with 1:07 left and followed that up with a lay-up with 30 seconds to play for a 43-35 lead. After a Genesee basket, Rehder closed out the scoring with a free throw.
Schwartz wound up as the leading scorer with 10 points. Secrest scored 9. Gehring scored 7. Enneking, Rehder and Forsmann scored 4 each and VonBargen, Ray and Duclos scored 2 each.
Prairie had a 43-38 edge on the boards. Gehring had 9 and Rehder 8 to lead the team.
Schwartz and Chris Schumacher each had 4 steals while Rehder and Enneking had 3 each. Ray had 4 assists while Rehder had 3.
The JVs were 18 for 60 from the field, 30%, and 5 for 14 at the line, 36%. Genesee was 13 for 41 from the field, 32%, and 9 for 19 at the line, 47%.
Prairie    18 11 11 11 -51
Genesee 16 10 15   9 -50
Prairie-Wemhoff 0-3, 3-4, 3; Shears 4-7, 0-1, 10; Lorentz 1-2, 0-1, 2; Behler 3-5, 1-2, 7; Forsmann 8-18, 6-13, 23; Schwartz 1-8, 1-2, 3; Rambo 0-2, 0-0, 0; Weber 1-2, 1-2, 3. 3-pointers-Shears 2, Forsmann.
Genesee-Schwartz 1-1, 1-2, 3; Wareham 4-11, 3-7, 11; Vestal 8-17, 0-0, 18; Zenner 4-9, 1-2, 11; Murray 3-5, 0-2, 6; Hubbard 0-2, 1-2, 1; Johnson 0-1, 0-0, 0; Ketcheson 0-1, 0-0, 0. 3-pointers-Vestal 2, Zenner 2.