| Pirates
settle for 2nd at District
The Prairie Pirates had to settle for second place at District as they fell 56-61 to Lapwai Friday, Feb. 27 at the LCSC Activity Center in Lewiston after having beaten the Wildcats both times during the regular season. 
Prairie got off to a poor start as they missed their first 9 shot attempts, many from close range, before scoring the game’s first points on a reverse lay-in putback by Lucas Arnzen. Prairie wound up hitting just 3 of 15 shots in the opening period. By contrast Lapwai connected on 7 of 8 attempts in the quarter as they built a 7-16 lead against Prairie’s man defense. The Pirates switched to a matchup zone in the second period and Lapwai cooled off considerably. After falling behind 10-21 after a 3-pointer by Lapwai’s Cameron Shawl, Prairie mounted a comeback. The Pirates went on a 13-0 run to take a 23-21 lead when Tanner Ross scored on a putback at the 2:07 mark. Lapwai started finding the holes in the zone though late in the half and finished with a 2-7 run to take a 25-28 lead at the break. Lapwai scored first in the second half but a 6-0 run by the Pirates put them back on top at 31-30 when Jake Bruner scored a lay-up off an inbounds play. Lapwai answered with a 0-10 run that included a pair of 3-pointers. A 6-0 answer by the Pirates with Arnzen, Bruner and Ross each scoring inside, cut the lead back down to 3 at 37-40 but Lapwai scored to end the quarter with a 37-42 lead. Lapwai then pushed the lead back to 11 in the fourth at 38-49. Prairie got it back down to 7 on a lay-up by Arnzen and 2 free throws by Rhett Schlader. Lapwai pushed it right back to 12 points at 43-55 with only 1:13 left. At that point Prairie finally sank their first outside shot of the game when Schlader drained a 3 with 1:00 left. A turnover led to 2 free throws by Terran Peery to trim the lead to 48-55. Lapwai answered with 3 free throws to push the lead back to double digits at 48-58 with 42 seconds to play. A couple of 3’s by Shclader got Prairie within 4 at 54-58 with 21 seconds left but Lapwai made enough of their free throws to hold off the Pirates for the win. Prairie was off on their shooting for 3 of the four quarters as the second quarter was their only one over 50% at 8 for 15. The rest of the game they connected on just 12 of 42 shots. Except for the 3 fourth quarter 3-pointers by Schlader the Pirates had no perimeter game. Thanks to a 14 point fourth quarter Schlader wound up as Prairie’s leading scorer with 20 points. Bruner scored 15 but after hitting 4 of 6 shots in the first half, hit just 2 of 9 in the second. Ross added 10, Arnzen 9 and Peery 2. Prairie had a slim 34-33 edge on the boards with Bruner pulling down 11 and Ross 9. Arnzen had 5 steals while Schlader and Bruner had 4 each. Arnzen and Ross each had 4 assists. Prairie was 20 for 57 from the field, 35%, and 13 for 23 at the line, 57%. Lapwai was 22 for 47 from the field, 47%, and 12 for 20 at the line, 60%. Turnovers were almost even at 21 for Prairie and 20 for Lapwai but it seemed like Lapwai scored more often off of Prairie turnovers than vice-versa. Prairie will take a 19-3 record into the state tournament where they will face District 3 champion Ambrose of the Boise area at 8 p.m. MST Thursday, March 5 at Vallivue High School in Caldwell. Unfortunately for those that would like to see both teams play, that is the same time as Summit Academy’s game against Carey at Caldwell High School. Prairie 7 18 12 19 -56 Lapwai 16 12 14 19 -61 Prairie-Schlader 6-16, 5-9, 20; Higgins 0-2, 0-0, 0; Bruner 6-15, 3-7, 15; Ross 4-9, 2-4, 10; Arnzen 4-13, 1-1, 9; Peery 0-2, 2-2, 2; Mager 0-0, 0-0, 0. 3-pointers-Schlader 3. Lapwai-T. Miles-Williams 1-4, 2-4, 4; LoneBear 4-9, 0-0, 8; Mitchell 7-15, 4-5, 19; Shawl 3-9, 4-6, 14; Henry 4-7, 0-0, 8; I. Miles-Williams 0-0, 2-5, 2; Taylor 2-2, 0-0, 6. 3-pointers-Taylor 2, Shawl 2, Mitchell.
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., lost 56-61 March 5-7-State at Caldwell, opener against Ambrose at 8 p.m. MST 3/5 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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