| Pirates
hold off Potlatch rally
The Prairie Pirates built a double digit lead early and then used great free throw shooting to hold off a furious fourth quarter rally by Potlatch to win 78-68 in a White Pine League game at Cottonwood Tuesday, Dec. 22. 
Prairie jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the game on a lay-up by Conner Rieman and a 3-point play by Branden Waller and pulled away to a 17-7 lead by the end of the first quarter. They extended the lead to 27-9 in the second quarter as they opened that period with a 10-2 run. The first two points of the quarter were a pair of free throws by Sigler after Potlatch’s Stephen Brent was whistled for an intentional foul as he was caught throwing an elbow. Potlatch was able then to cut the lead down to 12 by the end of the half, 34-22. Waller scored 11 points in the first half while David Sigler was 4 for 4 from the field and 2 for 2 at the line for 10 first half points. As a team, Prairie was 10 for 10 at the line in the first half. Waller actually missed a free throw but a lane violation by the Loggers gave him a second chance and he cashed in on it. The Pirates built their lead back up to 20 at 45-25 in the third quarter only to see Potlatch rally back and cut the lead back to 12 at 53-41 by the end of the period. In the fourth quarter Potlatch got blistering hot from the field as they connected on 9 of 12 shots from the field including five 3-pointers. The cut the lead down to 5 points on 2 occasions at 57-52 and 61-56 but each time Prairie was able to respond. Prairie also hit 11 of 13 free throws in the fourth quarter including an 8 for 8 showing by Sigler. Prairie was also 6 for 10 themselves from the field in the fourth quarter, nearly all the scoring on lay-ups. Sigler wound up with 27 points to lead the Pirates win scoring while Waller added 18 points. Devin Schmidt, who had 5 fourth quarter points including a clinching 3-point play with 31 seconds left had 9 points as did Andrew Gabica, who also had 5 points in the fourth quarter. Derek Schaeffer scored 7 while Rieman had 6 and Kyle Holthaus had 2. Prairie controlled the boards 30-22 with Waller grabbing 11 as he had a double-double. Gabica added 6 rebounds. Gabica also had 5 steals and Rieman had 5 assists. Prairie was 26 for 53 from the field, 49%, and 23 for 25 at the line, 92%. Potlatch was 25 for 46 from the field, 54%, and 11 for 16 at the line, 69%. The Loggers were 7 for 11 from 3-point range in the second half after going 0 for 4 in the first half. With the win Prairie improves to 2-0 in league play and 7-1 overall. In the JV game Prairie broke open a close game with a 16-4 second quarter and went on to win 43-20. Prairie led just 8-6 after the first quarter as Potlatch shut Prairie down over the final 6 minutes of the quarter after the Pirates had jumped out to a 7-2 lead. Potlatch tied the scored at 8 to open the second quarter then Prairie went on a 16-2 run to end the half with runs of 9 straight and 7 straight points. Seth Guyer had 6 points in the quarter while Beau Schlader and Marcus Higgins scored 4 each. The JV’s extended the lead to 20 by the end of the third quarter, 37-17, as Brock Heath scored 5 in the quarter while Guyer had 4. Guyer wound up with 13 points to lead the team while Schlader and Heath scored 9 each. Higgins had 4 while Ryan Dalgliesh, Chris Hoene, Tim Frei and Seth Chaffee had 2 each. Potlatch held a 29-35 rebounding edge with Guyer leading Prairie with 6 rebounds while Schlader, Justin Schmidt and Dalgliesh had 4 each. Heath had 5 steals while Guyer had 4. Schmidt didn’t score in the game but dished out 6 assists. Prairie was 18 for 49 from the field, 37%, and 5 for 11 at the line, 45%. Potlatch was 9 for 37 from the field, 24%, and 2-10 at the line, 20%. Prairie 17 17 19 25 -78 Potlatch 7 15 19 27 -68 Prairie-Schmidt 4-7, 1-1, 9; Rieman 2-5, 2-2, 6; Gabica 3-7, 3-4, 9; Sigler 8-10, 10-10, 27; Waller 7-17, 4-5, 18; Holthaus 1-3, 0-0, 2; Schaeffer 2-4, 3-3, 7. 3-pointers-Sigler. Potlatch-Heustis 3-8, 0-0, 6; Woodin 5-7, 2-2, 14; Keasal 4-7, 4-8, 12; Dawes 1-3, 0-0, 2; Shepherd 3-6, 3-3, 12; Garcia 7-12, 2-2 18; Brent 2-3, 0-1, 4; Butterfield 0-0, 0-0, 0. 3-pointers-Shepherd 3, Woodin 2, Garcia 2.
PIRATES BOYS BASKETBALL SCHEDULE FOR 2009-10 *indicates league game 5-Troy, here, lost 32-34 8-Lapwai, here, won 51-44 11-Nezperce, here, won 52-46 12-Timberline, there,*, won 57-43 17-Summit, here, won 56-45 19-Genesee, here, won 47-42 in overtime 22-Potlatch, here*, won 78-68 29 & 30-Kamiah Tournament, beat Troy 53-41; beat Moscow JV 57-48, details next week 15-Nezperce, there 16-C.V. there, 4 p.m.* 21-Highland, there, JV, C only 22-Kamiah, here, 6 p.m. 23-Lapwai, there* 28-Grangeville, there 29-Deary, there* 9-Troy, there* 12-Kamiah, there 15, 20, 23 & 25-District at LCSC March 4-6-State at Boise |
 |
