| Pirates
hold off Troy
Troy jumped out to a 0-9 lead but the Prairie Pirates fought back to take the lead by halftime and pulled away to win 49-35 Tuesday, Feb. 1 at Cottonwood. Missed shots and turnovers early kept Prairie scoreless for the first 4:25 of the game as Troy built their lead. Prairie finally broke through on the scoreboard when Seth Guyer scored a lay-up off a pass from Beau Schlader. 
Prairie meanwhile amped up their defense and kept Troy scoreless the remainder of the period as David Johnson added a free throw and Schlader sank a 3-pointer from the top of the key just ahead of the buzzer to make it 6-9. Neither team scored in the second period until a steal by Guyer led to a lay-up by Johnson that cut the lead to 8-9 at the 5:45 mark. Troy finally broke their scoring drought of over 6 minutes when Hayden Kanikkeberg drove in for a lay-up at the 5:26 mark. Prairie took their first lead of the game at the 4:06 mark when Schlader converted a 4-point play as he sank an off-balance 3-pointer and was fouled. Troy took the lead right back on a 3-pointer by Kanikkeberg an d the teams then traded scores until the final 45 second when Justin Schmidt scored a pair of lay-ups to give Prairie a 22-20 lead at the half. Prairie never trailed again as they held Troy to just 2 for 7 shooting in the third quarter while hitting 5 for 8 themselves. Johnson was 3 for 3 in the quarter, all from inside the lane. Prairie took a 32-24 lead into the fourth quarter. Troy never got closer than 6 in the final period even Prairie was only 1 for 2 from the field. Troy sent Prairie to the free throw line for 22 free throw attempts with the Pirates converting 15 of them. Troy meanwhile resorted to mostly 3-point shooting but hit only 1 of 8 from long distance and 3 of 14 overall in the quarter. The 14-point final margin was Prairie’s biggest lead of the game. Schlader wound up as the leading scorer with 15 points, 8 of which he scored in the second quarter. Guyer added 12 with 10 of those coming in the fourth quarter, 8 at  the
free throw line. Johnson was also in double figures with 11 points as he
connected on 4 of 5 shots from the field. Justin Schmidt scored 7 and Devin
Schmidt scored 4.
Prairie held a slim 25-24 rebounding edge led by Johnson with 8. Guyer had 2 steals and Schlader had 7 assists. Prairie was 14 for 25 from the filed, 56%, and 19 for 29 at the line, 66%. It’s not often you attempt more free throws than shots from the field. Troy was 13 for 42 from the field, 31%, and 4 for 12 from the line, 33%. With the win Prairie stays unbeaten in league play at 6-0 against Division I teams and 10-0 in all league games. They are 15-3 overall. In the JV game Prairie trailed by 13 points early in the third quarter, but came back to win 44-43 in overtime. Prairie scored just 7 points in the first quarter as Troy used a 0-8 run to take a 7-12 lead at the quarter break. Prairie got no closer than 4 in the second quarter at 10-14 after a 3-pointer by Marcus Higgins and 12-16 after 2 free throws by Jared Higgins. Troy outscored them 4-11 the rest of the quarter to take a 16-27 halftime lead. One thing that helped Prairie in the second half is that Brady Griffin, who scored 10 of Troy’s 27 first half points didn’t play in the second half as he also plays for the varsity. The other thing that helps is that they couldn’t shoot worth a lick in the second half and overtime as they hit just 6 of 31 shots from the field. Troy scored first in the third quarter for a 16-29 lead but Prairie then scored 7 straight to cut the lead to 6. Chris Hoene, who had no points or rebounds in the first half, came to life in the second as he scored Prairie’s first points of the second half and finished the game with 12 rebounds. A steal and drive for a lay-up by Dakota Wilson and a 3-pointer by Marcus Higgins cut the lead to 23-29 with 3:57 left in the quarter. 13 seconds later Troy scored only their second basket of the quarter and neither team scored the rest of the period as Troy led 23-31 after the third period. Two free throws by Seth Chaffee to open the fourth quarter and a basket by Marcus Higgins cut the lead in half. Troy then scored a pair of baskets to push the lead back to 8 with 5:12 left. Hoene scored a pair of putbacks to again cut the lead to 4. Troy answered with a free throw but Marcus Higgins scored 2 at the line to cut the lead to 33-36 with 2:37 to play. 
A lay-up by Troy was then answered by two baskets by Chaffee, the first on a putback and then a steal and drive for a lay-up cut the deficit to 37-38. Troy managed a free throw with 53 seconds left but missed the second one and Prairie rebounded. Marcus Higgins was fouled with 33 seconds left and made both to tie the game. Prairie had a chance to win it in regulation when Chaffee was fouled and sent to the line for a 1 plus the bonus. He missed the first attempt and Troy rebounded but couldn’t hit the desperation shot. In overtime Neither team scored for almost a minute and a half with Marcus Higgins sinking a pair of free throws at the 2:32 mark to fiver Prairie their first lead since the 4:07 mark in the first quarter. Higgins then added a 3-pointer at the 1:40 mark to put Prairie up by 5. Troy was fouled by converted just 1 free throw to cut the lead to 4. Prairie tried to run the clock out but a turnover with about 25 seconds left led to a 3-pointer that cut the lead to 1. Two missed free throws gave Troy another shot but the final 3-point attempt missed badly and Prairie held on for the win. Marcus Higgins scored 21 points to lead the Pirates in scoring with 11 of those coming in the fourth quarter and overtime. Chaffee scored 7, Hoene 6, Troy Lorentz and Dylon Bruegeman 3 each and Jared Higgins and Wilson 2 each. Troy had a 33-35 rebounding edge but from the start of the 4th quarter on Prairie had a 19-9 edge. Hoene had 12 to lead the Pirates with Chaffee and Marcus Higgins adding 6 each. Chaffee and Wilson had 4 steals each while Chaffee and Lorentz had 2 assists each. Prairie was 13 for 33 from the field, 39%, and 14 for 21 at the line, 67%, while Troy was 18 for 60 from the field, 30%, and 4 for 12 at the line, 33%. Prairie 6 16 10 17 -49 Troy 9 11 4 11 -35 Prairie-Schlader 4-6, 5-7, 15; Guyer 2-5, 8-11, 12; Johnson 4-5, 3-4, 11; D. Schmidt 2-5, 0-2, 4; Heath 0-1, 0-0, 0; J. Schmidt 2-3, 3-5, 7; Lorentz 0-0, 0-0, 0. 3-pointers-Schlader 2. Troy-Kanikkeberg 6-9, 0-2, 14; Malm 3-14, 3-5, 10; Williams 3-8, 1-4, 7; Gash 1-5, 0-0, 2; Hoskins 0-1, 0-0, 0; Nelson 0-1, 0-1, 0; Illi 1-2, 0-0, 2; Griffin 0-2, 0-0, 0; Memmott 0-1, 0-0, 0. 3-pointers-Kanikkeberg 2, Malm. District starts next week The boys district basketball tournaments will get underway next week. The entire District 2, Division I Tournament will be held at the LCSC Activity Center in Lewiston. Prairie is the #2 seed in the tournament and will play at 6:15 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 17 against #7 seeded Deary. All four second round games will be played Monday, Feb. 21 starting at 12:30 p.m. If Prairie wins their first round game they would be in the evening session at either 7:45. A loss would put them in the 2 p.m. game. Two loser out games will be held Tuesday, Feb. 22 at 6:15 and 7:45 p.m. The third place game will be Thursday, Feb. 24 at 6:15 p.m. with the championship game to follow at 7:45 p.m. The third place winner will play at St. Maries on Saturday, Feb. 26 against either Lakeside or Wallace for a state berth. 2 Shooters post 25's each of last two weeks PIRATES BOYS BASKETBALL SCHEDULE FOR 2010-11 *indicates league game 4-Troy, there, won 45-35 10-Kendrick, here*, won 47-34 13-Orofino, there, won 66-34 14-Lapwai, here, won 62-59, OT 16-Timberline, there, won 66-57 28-Kamiah there, cancelled 7-Deary, there*, won 56-44 11-Genesee, here, won 54-48 15-Potlatch, there, 4 p.m.*, won 58-47 18-Summit, here, won 59-29 20-Grangeville, here, won 57-32 21-Nezperce, there, won 65-59 25-Kamiah, there, lost 30-47 27-Highland, here-C game 4 p.m., JV 5:30, varsity, 7 p.m., won 75-32 29-Lapwai, there*, won 62-46 8-Genesee, there*, lost 46-51, details next week. 10-Kamiah, here 16, 17, 21, 22 & 24-District at LCSC-Prairie plays Deary at 6:15 p.m. Feb. 17. 26-State Play-in game at St. Maries March 3-5-State at Caldwell |
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