| Pirates
improve to 16-0
The Prairie Pirates picked up 3 more wins this past week and all but clinched the league title. On Thursday, Jan. 30 they beat Lapwai 68-56 at Cottonwood in a league game. On Saturday, Feb. 1 they won at Genesee 52-40 in another league game. Finally on Monday, Feb. 3 they held off Orofino 67-55 at Cottonwood in a non-league encounter. One win in any of their final 3 league games and they will clinch the White Pine League Division 1 championship. The game had stayed within a single digit margin until the final few minutes when Lapwai was fouling Prairie but the Pirates hit their free throws. Prairie jumped out to lead of 8-4 and 14-9 in the first quarter but Lapwai responded. A 3-pointer by Rhett Schlader put Prairie up 8-4 but Lapwai came back to tie at 9-9. Jake Bruner hit a 3-pointer that put Prairie up 14-9. Lapwai called a timeout and then came out and outscored Prairie 1-8 the rest of the quarter to take a 15-17 lead. Prairie took the lead back with a 9-0 run in the second quarter that featured a 5-point possession. Bruner was fouled on a lay-up that put Prairie up 23-19. He missed the free throw but Prairie got the rebound with Jared Higgins converting a 3-pointer to make it 25-19. Lapwai answered with 4 straight points to cut the lead to 2 but Prairie pushed it back to 7 at 38-31 by halftime. In the third quarter Lapwai was able to get the lead down to 3 points at 47-44 but a basket each by Lucas Arnzen and Schlader put it right back at 7 at 51-44 by the end of the quarter. Lapwai was able to get no closer than 5 in the fourth quarter at 55-50 before Tanner Ross and Arnzen each scored a basket. Lapwai then got it back down to 6 at 59-53 but then started sending Schlader to the free throw line. Schlader hit 7 straight free throws and Bruner hit 2 more to finish off the scoring. Schlader wound up with 21 points to lead the scoring with Bruner adding 20. Arnzen scored 13, Ross 6, Higgins 5 and Isaiah Shears 3. Prairie held a 31-27 rebounding edge led by Arnzen with 9 and Schlader with 8. Higgins had 3 steals and 4 assists while Schlader had 5 assists. Prairie was 24 for 57 from the field, 42%, and 15 for 22 at the line, 68%. Lapwai was 20 for 48 from the field, 42%, and 9 for 14 at the line, 64%. Lapwai won the JV game 44-57. Prairie 15 23 13 17 -68 Lapwai 17 14 13 12 -56 Prairie-Schlader 6-15, 7-8, 21; J. Higgins 2-7, 0-0, 5; Bruner 6-13, 7-11, 20; Ross 3-4, 0-1, 6; Arnzen 6-11, 1-2, 13; Bruegeman 0-2, 0-0, 0; B. Higgins 0-1, 0-0, 0; Shears 1-2, 0-0, 3. 3-pointers- Schlader 2, J. Higgins, Bruner, Shears. Lapwai-Williams 2, 1-2, 5; Higheagle 2, 1-4, 6; Perez 2, 0-0, 4; Tannehill 2, 0-0, 4; Chimburas 1, 2-2, 4; Mitchell 7, 4-4, 19 Schimmel 1, 0-0, 2; Henry 2, 2-2, 6. 3-pointers-Perez 2, Higheagle, Mitchell. 
They just need 1 win out of their final 3 league games against Potlatch, C.V. and Kamiah to clinch the league championship and #1 seed into District. Genesee led only once in the game at 6-7 with 5 minutes to play in the first quarter and Bruner sitting on the bench with 3 quick fouls. Despite missing Bruner the Pirates finished the first quarter with 5 straight points, 2 each by Schlader and Arnzen and 1 by Dylon Brugeman, to take an 11-7 lead. Arnzen and Schlader carried the offensive load in the second quarter as Prairie outscored Genesee 16-12 to take a 27-19 halftime lead. Schlader scored 8 points including a pair of 3-pointers while Arnzen was 3 for 3 in the quarter for 6 points. Those two combined for a 7-0 run that turned an 18-14 lead into a 25-14 lead. Arnzen scored a 14 footer jumper, Schlader hit a 3 and Arnzen added a lay-up. Genesee outscored Prairie 2-5 the rest of the half to get the lead down to single digits. Bruner finally got back in the game to start the third quarter and made up for lost time as he scored the first 7 points of the second half on 2 lay-ups and a 3-pointer to give Prairie a 34-19 lead. He wound up scoring 13 of Prairie’s 17 points in the quarter. The most spectacular points of the quarter though came as it ended. Prairie had gotten a defensive rebound in the final seconds and Jared Higgins took the ball downcourt. He passed the ball to Arnzen on the right baseline. The ball came in a little high and Arnzen realized if he caught it, he would probably come down out of bounds so he simply redirected the ball while he was in the air over to Ross who was coming down the left side of the lane. Ross wound up with an easy lay-up as the quarter ended to give Prairie a 44-25 lead. Prairie kept the lead between 16 and 19 points through the first 4 minutes of the quarter then went to running time off the clock. Genesee was able to cut into the lead but got no closer than the final margin of 12 points. Schlader wound up with 19 points to lead the scoring for the Pirates with Bruner scoring 15 and Arnzen 12. Jared Higgins, Ross and Bruegeman each added 2 points. Genesee’s do-everything senior post, Reggie Tilleman had 23 points and 18 rebounds but Prairie limited the rest of the Bulldogs to just 17 points total. Genesee had a 27-36 rebounding edge thanks to Tilleman with Arnzen leading Prairie with 9 rebounds. Schlader, Arnzen, Ross and Higgins had 1 steal each as both teams committed just 10 turnovers. Higgins had 4 assists while Schlader and Arnzen had 3 each. Prairie was 20 for 40 from the field, 50%, and 7 for 11 at the line, 64%. Genesee was 12 for 47 from the field, 26%, and 14 for 21 at the line, 67%. Prairie also won the JV game by a score of 42-19. Prairie 11 16 17 8 -52 Genesee 7 12 6 15 -40 Prairie-Schlader 6-12, 4-4, 19; J. Higgins 1-4, 0-0, 2; Bruner 6-9, 1-3, 15; Ross 1-3, 0-0, 2; Arnzen 6-9, 0-0, 12; Bruegeman 0-1, 2-4, 2; B. Higgins 0-2, 0-0, 0; Shears 0-0, 0-0, 0; Hankerson 0-0, 0-0, 0. 3-pointers-Schlader 3, Bruner 2. Genesee-Wayt 2-8, 0-0, 4; Phillips 1-4, 2-2, 5; B. Tilleman 3-11, 2-2, 8; R. Tilleman 6-20, 10-17, 23; Druffel 0-0, 0-0, 0; Stout 0-3, 0-0, 0. 3-pointers-Phillips, R. Tilleman.  Orofino
came the closest to beating Prairie when they played earlier and they played
tough again this time around.
Orofino hit nine 3-pointers the first time around and with 2 right off the bat this time it looked like they might hit more than that as they took a 5-6 lead after their second one. Prairie answered though with a 10-0 run that gave them the lead for good. Arnzen and Bruner each had 4 points in that run and Ross added the other 2. Those 3 wound up doing the bulk of the scoring for Prairie in the game. Prairie wound up taking a 25-16 lead by the end of the first quarter. An 11-0 run in the second quarter with Ross scoring 5 and Bruner 4, put Prairie up 36-19 and they appeared headed for a blowout win. Prairie led 40-25 at the half. Orofino showed they weren’t going away in the third quarter and after a pair of 3-pointers midway through the quarter they had cut the lead down to 6 at 45-39. Schlader, who had sat out much of the first half with foul trouble, hit a big 3-pointer that stemmed Orofino’s momentum and kicked off a 9-0 run that put Prairie back up by 15 by the end of the quarter at 54-39. Orofino was able to get back within 9 in the fourth quarter at 57-48 but a basket by Bruner and 2 baskets by Arnzen put the lead right back at 15 with 2:56 to play. Orofino again pulled within 10 with 1:05 left but they had run out of time by that point. Bruner and Arnzen wound up with 20 points and 10 rebounds each while Ross chipped in 13 points and 7 rebounds. Schlader scored 6, Jared Higgins and Bruegeman 3 each and Hankerson 2. Prairie had a 40-22 advantage on the boards. Schlader had 3 steals while Higgins had 6 assists and Bruner had 4 assists. Prairie was 27 for 54 from the field, 50%, and 10 for 19 at the line, 53%. Orofino was 21 for 48 from the field, 44%, and 7 for 11 at the line, 64%. They wound up with six 3-pointers this time around. With the wins Prairie is now 16-0 on the season and 9-0 in league play. The JV team also picked up a win over the Maniacs 45-28. Prairie shut out Orofino in the first quarter 12-0 with John Mager scoring 5 and Terran Peery 3 points. Peery hit a 3-pointer to open the second quarter and give Prairie a 15-0 lead. Prairie ran into turnover problems after that and had a scoring drought of nearly 5 minutes before Mager connected on a pair of free throws. Peery finished the half with a 3-point play to give the Pirates a 20-5 halftime lead. Prairie got back into their offensive rhythm in the third quarter with 16 points as they took a 36-13 lead into the fourth quarter. Calvin Hinkelman scored 5 while Peery and Devin Bruegeman scored 4 each. Orofino outscored Prairie in the fourth quarter as the C team picked up most of the playing time. Peery wound up with 13 points to lead the JV’s in scoring with John Mager scoring 12. Hinkelman scored 7, Brandon Higgins and Bruegeman 4 each, Luke Wemhoff 3 and Ryan Glimp and Brandon Anderson 1 each. Prairie dominated on the boards 49-28. Hinkelman had 10 to lead the team with Peery adding 8. Hinkelman and Bruegeman had 3 steals each and Hinkelman, Higgins and Tyson Schlader had 2 assists each. Prairie was 15 for 48 for the field, 31%, and 12 for 18 at the line, 67%. Orofino was 11 for 49 from the field, 22%, and 5 for 10 at the line, 50%. Prairie 25 15 14 13 -67 Orofino 16 9 14 16 -55 Prairie-Schlader 2-7, 1-2, 6; J. Higgins 1-6, 0-1, 3; Bruner 7-10, 5-6, 20; Ross 5-6, 3-7, 13; Arnzen 10-18, 0-1, 20; Bruegeman 1-2, 1-2, 3; Hankerson 1-4, 0-0, 2; B. Higgins 0-1, 0-0, 0. 3-pointers-Schlader, J. Higgins, Bruner. Orofino-Wilson 5-7, 0-0, 14; Judd 2-10, 0-1, 4; Turner 5-10, 3-3, 14; Lee 3-12, 2-3, 9; Kuykendall 3-4, 2-3, 8; K. Brink 0-0, 0-0, 0; Kelso 3-4, 0-1, 6; M. Brink 0-1, 0-0, 0; Widener 0-0, 0-0, 0. 3-pointers-Wilson 4, Turner, Lee. 
PIRATES BOYS BASKETBALL SCHEDULE FOR 2013-14 *indicates league game 13-Grangeville, here, Idaho County Shootout, 6 p.m., won 66-56 14-Troy, there*, won 58-37 17-Lapwai, there*, won 68-59 19-Salmon River, here, won 66-55 10-Grangeville, there, JV 5 p.m., V, 8 p.m. (quad with girls team), won 54-48 11-Nezperce, here, won 60-19 16-Potlatch, here*, won 61-13 18-Genesee, here*, won 63-53 21-C.V., here*, won 81-39 23-Orofino, there, won 51-48 24-Troy, here*, won 76-49 30-Lapwai, here*, won 68-56 3-Orofino, here, won 67-55 4-Potlatch, there*, won 85-38, clinch league title, details next week 6-Salmon River, there, 6 p.m. MST 11-C.V., there* 14-Kamiah, here*, 5 p.m. 17, 18, 24, 26 & 27-District at LCSC March 1-State Play-in game at St. Maries, 6 p.m. March 6-8-State at Caldwell |
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