| Pirates
start district play on Saturday
The boys district basketball tournament gets underway this week with a pair of play-in games on Thursday, Feb. 16. The play-in game competitors appear to be Deary, Timberline, Highland and Culdesac. Prairie has locked up the #5 seed and will see their first action on Saturday, Feb. 18 at 1:30 p.m. against the #4 seed which appears to be Troy. Nezperce, the #1 seed would play the lower seeded play-in game winner at noon. The tournament then takes a break with the #2 seed, likely Lapwai, against the higher-seeded play-in game survivor at 6 p.m. and the #3 seed, likely Genesee, playing #6 Kendrick at 7:30 p.m. The Prairie-Troy winner would play the Nezperce game winner at 5 p.m. Monday, Feb. 20. The losers will play at noon on Monday, Feb. 20. The tournament will continue with a pair of loser out games on Friday, Feb. 24, starting at 6 p.m. On Saturday, Feb. 25 will be the third place game at 1:30 p.m. followed by the championship game at 3 p.m. All games are at the LCSC Activity Center. The top 3 teams will all advance to state. Pirates beat Highland on senior night On senior night the Prairie Pirates broke open a close game in the second half to beat Highland 64-50 Thursday, Feb. 9 at Cottonwood. 
Prior to the game senior basketball players Seth Crane, Sam Forsmann, Sean Daly, Jared Nau, Chris Schumacher and Mat Forsmann along with senior cheerleader Kim Altman and senior dance team member Heather Schumacher were all honored along with their parents. Also the senior basketball players each presented a yellow rose to Lynn Rehder, mother of Jacob Riener who would’ve been celebrating his senior night as well, and did a cheer with Gary Riener, Jacob’s father. Highland jumped out to a 0-6 lead in the game but the Pirates came back to tie the game on a basket each from Mat Forsmann, Crane and Sean Daly. Highland again took the lead but 3-pointers by Sean Daly and Mat Forsmann kept the Pirates close as they trailed 12-15 at the quarter break. Another 3-pointer by Mat and a lay-up by Corey Schaeffer put Prairie ahead 17-15 early in the second quarter. Highland took back the lead with a pair of baskets and led most of the rest of the half except for the 2 occasions Prairie tied the score at 19 and 28. Highland had built a 21-28 lead before Prairie forged the tie with a basket each by J.D. Riener and Schaeffer and a 3-pointer by Ryan Daly. Highland took the lead at half with a free throw.  Scoring
went back and forth in the third quarter until the final 3:45 when Prairie
outscored the Huskies 12-2.
Schaeffer put Prairie ahead for good with a 3-point play and then Crane took over the scoring for Prairie as he scored the next 9 Prairie points on a 3-point play, lay-up, putback and hook shot as Prairie took a 48-40 lead into the fourth quarter. Highland was able to cut the lead to 5 in the fourth but 3 baskets by Riener kept Prairie on top. Prairie then put together a 7-0 run to turn a 6 point lead into a 13 point lead. Josh Gabica started it with a pair of free throws. Mat Forsmann converted a 3-point play and Sean Daly scored a putback. After 2 Highland free throws, Mat Forsmann drove full-court for a lay-up and Riener added a free throw for the final 14-point margin. Crane wound up with 16 points to lead the Pirates in scoring with Mat Forsmann scoring 15 and Sean Daly 10. Schaeffer and Riener scored 9 points each while Ryan Daly scored 3 and Gabica 2. Prairie held a slim 33-32 rebounding edge led by Schaeffer with 8. Riener added 7 rebounds and Crane had 5. Schumacher Sean Daly had 3 steals each and Mat Forsmann had 6 assists. Prairie was 26 for 57 from the field, 46%, and 7 for 9 at the line. Highland was 18 for 48 from the field, 38%, and 12 for 22 at the line. With the win Prairie improves to 7-5 in league play and 11-8 overall. In the JV game the Pirates jumped out to an 11-0 lead and were never threatened in a 39-13 win. Prairie outscored Highland 7-0 in the first quarter as Nate Kaschmitter, Eric Daly and Steven Baerlocher each scored a basket and Kyle Daly added a free throw. Baskets by Tyler Forsmann and Kaschmitter made it 11-0 in the second quarter before Highland cracked the scoreboard. 
A basket by Tyler Forsmann and 2 baskets by Eric Daly made it 17-4 at halftime. Prairie added just 1 point to their lead in the third quarter as they struggled to find the hoop, hitting just 2 of 15 attempts. They hit 3 of 4 free throws though to help them outscore Highland 8-7. Tyler Forsmann took over the scoring in the final quarter as he scored 8 of his game high 14 points and Prairie outscored Highland 14-2. Highland’s final points came with 5:34 left as Prairie scored the game’s final 10 points. Eric Daly was the second leading scorer with 9 points with Kaschmitter and Kyle Daly scoring 5 each and Baerlocher, Ben Forsmann and Daniel Sigler scoring 2 points each. Prairie dominated the boards 45-24, 29-8 in the second half. Tyler Forsmann, Kyle Daly and Ben Forsmann each had 12 rebounds to lead the team. Kaschmitter had 6 steals and Tyler Forsmann had 5 as Prairie forced Highland into 32 turnovers. Kyle Daly had 7 assists. The JV’s hit 17 of 63 shots from the field, 27%, and 4 of 9 free throws. Highland was 6 for 23 from the field, 26%, and 1 for 6 from the line. Highland 15 14 11 10 -50 Prairie 12 16 20 16 -64 Prairie-Crane 7-11, 2-3, 16; S. Forsmann 0-1, 0-0, 0; S. Daly 4-9, 0-0, 10; Nau 0-0, 0-0, 0; Schumacher 0-2, 0-0, 0; M. Forsmann 6-13, 1-1, 15; Schaeffer 4-8, 1-1, 9; Gabica 0-1, 2-2, 2; R. Daly 1-6, 0-0, 3; Riener 4-6, 1-2, 9; T. Forsmann 0-0, 0-0, 0. 3-pointers-S. Daly 2, M. Forsmann 2, R. Daly. Highland-L. Hammond 2-3, 0-2, 4; Coursey 5-12, 2-2, 13; Stigum 2-9, 3-6, 8; Behler 6-16, 5-6, 17; Eaton 2-6, 2-6, 6; Paul 1-1, 0-0, 2; Thomason 0-1, 0-0, 0; Hill 0-0, 0-0, 0; R. Hammond 0-0, 0-0, 0. 3-pointers-Coursey. 
The 5th and 6th graders played during the halftimes of the JV and varsity games against Highland. 
Pee Wee basketball is ongoing on Saturdays at the Elementary gym. In the upper photo Ryan Hasselstrom and Jennifer Enneking coach the girls while in the lower photo Corey Schaeffer and Teel Bruner coach the boys. PIRATES BOYS BASKETBALL SCHEDULE FOR 2005-06 JV games start at 6 p.m., varsity to follow unless indicated FEBRUARY 20-District continues at noon if a loss Saturday, at 5 p.m. if they won. 24 & 25-District continues PIRATES WRESTLING SCHEDULE FOR 2005-06 FEBRUARY 23-25-State at Pocatello |
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