| Pirates
clinch state berth
The Prairie basketball team has a chance to defend their state title as they qualified for another trip to State with a 68-25 win over Troy Wednesday, Feb. 18 at the District Tournament in Lewiston. 
They will meet Lapwai for the District title Friday, Feb. 27 at 7:30 p.m. If Prairie should win that they would open state play at 3 p.m. Mountain Time Thursday, March 5 at Vallivue High School in Caldwell against the District 3 runner-up. A loss would put them in the 8 p.m. game against the District 3 champion. The Pirates left little doubt who was going to win the matchup against Troy as they opened the game with a 21-0 run. Jake Bruner scored 9 of those 21 points while Tanner Ross and Rhett Schlader scored 4 each. Troy had trouble getting the ball across halfcourt against Prairie’s full-court defense as they turned the ball over 10 times with at least 4 steals turned into transition baskets for the Pirates. Troy finally got on the board with a 3-pointer at the 3:11 mark of the first quarter. Prairie then answered with a 9-0 run to take a 30-3 lead before Troy ended the quarter with a buzzer beater that made the score 30-5. The Pirates forced another 8 turnovers in the second quarter as they pulled away to a 38-7 lead. They wound up leading 44-12 at the half. Troy opened the second half scoring with a pair of free throws then Prairie went on another run as they scored 10 straight points for a 54-14 lead with 2:48 left in the third quarter. Bench players took up the bulk of the playing time from that point on and still managed to outscore the Trojans 14-11 the rest of the way. Prairie had 4 players score in double figures led by Schlader with 16 with Bruner adding 14 and Ross and Lucas Arnzen 11 each. Calvin Hinkelman scored 5, John Mager 4, Terran Peery 3, Bryson Higgins and Justin Schumacher 2 each and Devin Bruegeman 1. Getting their first varsity action late in the fourth quarter were JV call-ups Hunter Chaffee, Tyson Schlader, Luke Wemhoff and Brandon Anderson. Prairie dominated the boards 44-23 but spread the rebounds out over the lineup as Rhett Schlader led the team with 7 while Hinkelman and Mager had 6 each and Ross and Arnzen 5 each. Schlader had 6 steals and 6 assists while Bruner also had 6 steals. Bryson and Brandon Higgins each added 3 assists. Prairie was 28 for 60 from the field, 47%, and 10 for 19 at the line, 53%. Troy was 8 for 35 from the field, 23%, and 8 for 14 at the line, 57%. Prairie improves to 19-2 on the season. Prairie 30 14 14 10 -68 Troy 5 7 7 6 -25 Prairie-R. Schlader 6-11, 2-2, 15; Bry. Higgins 1-5, 0-0, 2; Bruner 6-8, 2-3, 14; Ross 5-6, 0-0, 11; Arnzen 4-7, 3-4, 11; Peery 1-3, 1-2, 3; Bra. Higgins 0-2, 0-0, 0; Hinkelman 2-5, 1-2, 5; Mager 2-4, 0-0, 4; Bruegeman 0-2, 1-2, 1; Schumacher 1-4, 0-2, 2; Anderson 0-1, -2, 0; Chaffee 0-1, 0-0, 0; T. Schlader 0-1, 0-0, 0; Wemhoff 0-0, 0-0, 0. 3-pointers-R. Schlader, Ross. Troy-Hoskins 0-3, 2-2, 2; Yeager 0-6, 2-4, 2; Malm 1-4, 1-2, 4; Nelson 1-2, 0-0, 2; Dahl-Imel 1-1, 0-0, 2; Sandquist 3-3, 1-2, 7; Stoner 2-6, 1-2, 5; Thompson 0-5, 0-0, 0; Lay 0-2, 1-2, 1; Lindhorst 0-2, 0-0, 0. 3-pointers-Malm.
Prairie’s seniors accept the league championship trophy from tournament managers James Stoner and Travis Mader. PIRATES BOYS BASKETBALL SCHEDULE FOR 2014-15 *indicates league game DECEMBER 9-Moscow, there, 5:30 p.m., won 65-43 12-Grangeville, there, Idaho County Shootout, V only, won 70-62 16-Troy, there*, won 65-32 18-Kamiah, here*, won 60-26 19-Genesee, there*, won 71-40 29-30-31-NIC Tourn. at Cd’A, lost to Wilson 50-60; Lost to Ridgeway 54-57; beat GP Vanier 62-45 JANUARY 6-Lapwai, here*, won 50-33 9-C.V., there*, won 78-36 15-Potlatch, here*, 5 p.m., won 76-13 20-Genesee, here*, won 60-33 23-Kamiah, there* won 62-26 27-Grangeville, here, won 57-40 28-Asotin, here, won 66-33 29-Troy, here*, won 56-25 FEBRUARY 5-Lapwai, there*, won 61-46 7-C.V., here*, won 78-17 11-Moscow, there, 5:30 p.m., won 79-64 14-Potlatch, there*, 1 p.m., won 89-33 18-District opener vs. Troy, won 68-25 27-District Championship vs. Lapwai, 7:30 p.m. March 5-7-State at Caldwell Below is the Academic Bowl Schedule for Prairie for the 2014-15 school year. 6:30-8:30 p.m. March 9-at Prairie April 13-at Timberline Junior High 6:15 to 7:45 p.m. March 17-at Grangeville April 21-at Nezperce |
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