| Pirates
win State Title!
The Prairie Boys Basketball Team won their fifth state championship and fourth in the past 10 years by beating Challis, Lapwai and Potlatch at the 1A-D1 State Tournament in Caldwell and Nampa this past weekend. On Thursday, Feb. 28 they outlasted Challis 45-38 at Vallivue High School in Caldwell. On Friday, March 1 they played one of their best games of the year as they led from the start and beat Lapwai 59-42 also at Vallivue. Finally on Saturday, March 2 at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa, they erased a 7-point halftime deficit and beat Potlatch 59-51. 
Challis scored first but Spencer Schumacher answered with a putback. Challis scored again but Spencer answered with 2 free throws to tie it again. Dylan Schumacher followed with a midrange shot to give Prairie their first lead and Spencer Schumacher scored inside to make it 8-4. Challis scored 4 straight points to tie it but Spencer Schumacher scored again to give Prairie a 10-8 lead after 1 quarter. Challis outscored Prairie 2-6 to open the second quarter and take back the lead at 12-14. Damian Forsmann then sank 4 straight free throws to put Prairie back on top with 2:21 left in the half. Challis bench player Isaac Schwenke then hit a 3-pointer to give the Vikings back the lead and added a basket to make it 16-19. Sam Mager converted a lay-up to cut the lead to 1 and Cole Schlader scored with 1:13 left to give Prairie a 20-19 halftime lead. Challis outscored the Pirates 2-9 in the first 3 minutes of the third quarter to take their biggest lead of the game at 22-28. Spencer Schumacher, who hadn’t scored since the first quarter, broke the run with a free throw and followed up with a drive to the hoop for a lay-up. He then found Dylan Schumacher open for a lay-up to cut the deficit to 1 at 27-28. Challis scored to push the lead back to 3 but Devin Ross scored on a drive to the hoop and Dylan Schumacher scored as the clock wound down to put Prairie back on top at 31-30 after 3 quarters. Challis took their final lead when Parker May scored to open the fourth but then Schlader took over the scoring load for the Pirates. He drove to the hoop and scooped the ball off the glass to put Prairie and a minute later a Dylan Schumacher blocked shot led to another basket by Schlader. Challis answered to cut the lead to one but Schlader then scored a free throw and 20 seconds later pulled down a defensive rebound and was fouled again. This time he made both free throws for a 38-34 lead. May scored 2 free throws for Challis but Spencer Schumacher drove the lane and scooped one into the basket. Ross Sheppeard scored for Challis and had a chance to tie but turned the ball over with Schlader converted the front end of a 1 and 1 to make it 41-38. A steal by Dylan Schumacher led to 2 more free throws by Schlader with 24 seconds left. Dylan then scored the final basket of the game as Prairie took their biggest lead of the game at the final buzzer. Schlader scored 10 of Prairie’s 14 fourth quarter points and wound up with 14 to lead the team. Spencer Schumacher scored 13 and added 8 rebounds. Dylan Schumacher scored 8 with Forsmann and Ross adding 4 each and Mager 2. A rarity for the Pirates is that they did not make a single 3-pointer, going 0 for 8 from long distance. Challis had the rebounding edge at 22-23. Dylan Schumacher had 5 steals while Devin Ross had 4 assists and Spencer Schumacher had 3. Prairie was 16 for 41 from the field, 39%, and 13 for 17 at the line, 76%. Challis was 15 for 39 from the field, 38%, and 6 for 6 at the line. May led all scorers with 16 points while no one else for Challis scored more than 7. It appeared post player William Ashley would be the big scorer for Challis after scoring their first 4 points but he picked up his second foul early in the first quarter and scored just 3 points the rest of the game. Prairie 10 10 11 14 -45 Challis 8 11 11 8 -38 Prairie-D. Schumacher 4-9, 0-1, 8; Mager 1-3, 0-0, 2; Forsman 0-4, 4-4, 4; Ross 2-6, 0-0, 4; S. Schumacher 5-11, 3-4, 13; Schlader 4-7, 6-8, 14. 3-pointers-none. Challis-Cotant 0-2, 0-0, 0; Millick 1-6, 2-2, 4; May 7-13, 2-2, 16; Ashley 3-7, 0-0, 7; Sheppeard 1-2, 2-2, 4; Shaw 0-1, 0-0, 0; Schwenke 2-2, 0-0, 5; Philips 0-0, 0-0, 0; Piva 0-0, 0-0, 0; Ammar 1-1, 0-0, 2; Siggers 0-0, 0-0, 0. 3-pointers-Ashley, Schwenke.  he
regular season game at Lapwai the day coach Kevin Chaffee’s mother died.
This year it was in the state semifinals on Chaffee’s birthday.
Prairie scored first in the game on an inbounds play to Spencer Schumacher but Lapwai answered with a basket by Kendal Leighton and a 3-pointer by Titus Yearout for a 2-5 lead. Spencer Schumacher hit a bank shot and Forsmann added a wide-open lay-up when he headed downcourt after a Lapwai turnover to give Prairie their first lead at 6-5. Yearout scored to put Lapwai back on top but Mager found the backdoor open for a lay-up to put Prairie back on top 8-7. A steal by Yearout led to a basket by Payton Sobotta for what turned out to be Lapwai’s final lead of the game. Spencer Schumacher scored on a spin move in the lane to put Prairie back on top with 1:50 left in the first quarter. Mager made a free throw and Ross scored on a feed from Forsmann to give Prairie a 13-9 lead at the end of the opening quarter. Forsmann made 2 free throws and Spencer Schumacher scored on an inbounds play for a 17-9 lead. Lapwai’s Maceo Henry scored but Spencer Schumacher and Schlader each hit 1 of 2 at the line to make it 19-11. Sobotta scored a pair of free throws but Prairie then finished the half with a 9-0 run. Spencer Schumacher and Ross each scored a basket. Ross then got the ball to go through the hoop as he was knocked to the floor and converted the 3-point play. A steal by Schlader led to a buzzer-beating lay-up by Ross that made it 28-13 at the half. Lapwai had hit just 1 of 11 shots in the quarter with their big 3 of Leighton, Sobotta and Yearout going a combined 0 for 9. Leighton and Sobotta were each 0 for 4 in the quarter. Lapwai extended their defense in the third quarter but Prairie found the openings enough to keep Lapwai from getting any closer than 7 points. Forsmann opened the second half with a perimeter shot to give Prairie a 17 point lead. Twice Lapwai scored and Prairie answered with a basket each by Mager and Forsmann to make it 34-17. Lapwai was then able to put a run together outscoring Prairie 1-11 to cut the lead down to 7 at 35-28. A free throw by Mager was Prairie’s only point for a nearly 4 minute stretch. With 25 seconds left Mager was fouled again and this time made both free throws and then with time running out he fed Dylan Schumacher for a basket that pushed the lead back to double digits as the quarter ended, 39-28. Spencer Schumacher scored on a feed from Ross to open the fourth quarter scoring and after a basket by Yearout, Forsmann scored to make it 43-30. Yearout hit a 3 to cut the lead to 10 but Lapwai was unable to get any closer. The rest of the way, any time Lapwai scored, Prairie was able to answer with Mager scoring 3 baskets in the quarter, the last one making it 51-37 with 1:31 left. Leighton scored 2 free throws by Spencer Schumacher answered by hitting 3 of 4 at the line. Lapwai’s last gasp came on a 3 by Leighton with 1:00 left to cut the lead to 54-42. Prairie then made 5 of 6 free throws in the final minute to equal their biggest lead at the final buzzer. Spencer Schumacher led all scorers with 20 points and added 17 rebounds. Mager had his biggest scoring day of the season by hitting all 5 of his shot attempts and added 4 of 6 at the line for 14 points. Forsmann scored 12 and Ross 10 while Dylan Schumacher scored 2 and Schlader 1. Schlader, the hero of the Challis win, couldn’t get anything going as he was called for a foul anytime he tried to do something and wound up fouling out early in the fourth quarter. Prairie dominated on the boards 36-26. Ross added 9 rebounds and Dylan Schumacher had 7. Dylan Schumacher, Forsmann, Ross and Schlader each had 1 steal in the game while Ross, Forsmann and Dylan Schumacher each had 4 assists as Prairie had 17 assists on 21 made baskets. For the second straight game, Prairie did not make a single 3-pointer. Yearout led Lapwai with 18 points while Leighton had 12. Sobotta, who normally shoots the lights out against Prairie scored just 4 points with 2 of those coming at the line as he hit just 1 of 13 from the field. Prairie was 21 for 38 from the field, 55%, and 17 for 29 at the line, 59%. Lapwai was 16 for 55 from the field, 29%, and 7 for 8 at the line, 88%. This game might have been where playing 4 elimination games in 6 days may have helped the Pirates. For Lapwai it was their first games on back-to-back days in several weeks. Prairie 13 15 11 20 -59 Lapwai 9 4 15 14 -42 Prairie-D. Schumacher 1-6, 0-0, 2; Mager 5-5, 4-6, 14; Forsmann 4-7, 4-4, 12; Ross 4-7, 2-4, 10; S. Schumacher 7-11, 6-13, 20; Schlader 0-2, 1-2, 1; Ott 0-0, 0-0, 0; Anderson 0-0, 0-0, 0; Shears 0-0, 0-0, 0; Uhlenkott 0-0, 0-0, 0. 3-pointers-none. Lapwai-Leighton 4-13, 2-2, 12; Yearout 7-13, 2-2, 18; Domebo 0-1, 0-0, 0; Sobotta 1-13, 2-2, 4; JJ Reuben 3-8, 0-0, 6; Young 0-2, 0-0, 0; Henry 1-2, 0-0, 2; S. Reuben 0-1, 0-0, 0; Taylor 0-1, 0-0, 0. 3-pointers-Leighton 2, Yearout 2. 
The Loggers looked to make it 2 wins in a row as they came out hot hitting 6 of 8 shots in the first quarter and 11 of 18 in the first half on their way to a 24-31 halftime lead after leading by as many as 8. Potlatch also hit 7 of 10 free throws in the first half. Prairie wasn’t really doing that badly themselves as they were 10 for 24 in the half from the field and 2 for 4 at the line. Prairie led early on as Ross hit the Pirates’ first 3 pointer of the state tournament to give them a 3-2 lead. Ross then made it 5-4 with a steal but Potlatch answered with 7 straight points. Potlatch led 9-14 late in the first quarter but Spencer Schumacher banked in a straight on 3 pointer to make it 12-14 at the end of the first quarter. The Loggers outscored Prairie 5-11 in the second quarter to take their first 8-point lead at 17-25 with 3:04 left. They again led by 8 at 19-27 and 22-30 after a 3-pointer by Brayden Hadaller. Spencer Schumacher cut the lead to 6 with 33 seconds left but Potlatch scored a free throw to make it 24-31 at the half. During halftime coach Chaffee says he stayed calm and just went over what the Pirates needed to do in the second half. Apparently one of those things was to get the ball to Spencer Schumacher inside. Spencer scored the first two baskets of the second half and then Ross converted a floater in the lane and was fouled. His ensuing free throw tied the game at 31-31 a little more than a minute into the second half. Damian Forsmann then scored a pair of free throws to give Prairie their first lead at the 6:30 mark. Mager added a 2 free throws and Spencer Schumacher scored inside on a feed from Mager to make it a 13-0 start to the second half. Potlatch finally scored with 3:25 left in the quarter but Prairie answered a minute later with a 3-point play by Spencer Schumacher on Potlatch big man Dacota Hadaller’s fourth foul. Spencer Schumacher scored inside again and Forsmann followed with a steal that made it 44-33 as Prairie outscored Potlatch 20-2 to open the second half. Connor Akins scored for Potlatch in the final seconds to make it 44-35 after 3 quarters. Akins scored again to open the fourth but Prairie answered with a 3 by Schlader and a jumper from the elbow by Ross to push the lead back to 12 at 49-37. Mager twice answered Potlatch scores and Forsmann answered another Potlatch score to keep pushing the lead back to 12, making it 55-43 with 2:44 left. The Loggers Tyler Wilcoxsen hit a basket and Justin Nicholson followed with a 3 to cut the lead down to 7 at 55-48 with 42 seconds to play. Potlatch had chance to cut it down even further but a defensive rebound and a runout by Forsmann for a wide-open lay-up made it 57-48 with 32 seconds left. A silly foul on a 3 point try by Brayden Hadaller led to 3 made free throws that cut the lead to 57-51 with 25 seconds left. Forsmann was fouled on the ensuing inbounds play and converted both free throws to make it 59-51 with 24 seconds left and those turned out to be the final points of the game as the Pirates celebrated. Spencer Schumacher had another double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds while Ross scored 12, Forsmann 11 and Mager 10 as Prairie had 4 players in double figures for the second straight game. Schlader added 6 and Dylan Schumacher 4. Akins led Potlatch with 16 points while Brayden Hadaller had 12 and Wilcoxsen had 10. Prairie had a 28-21 advantage on the boards. Ross had 3 steals and Schlader had 5 assists. Prairie was 23 for 45 from the field, 51%, and 9 for 13 at the line, 69%. Potlatch was 18 for 41 from the field, 44%, and 12 for 14 at the line, 86%. Potlatch was just 7 for 23, 30%, from the field in the second half while Prairie was 13 for 21, 62%. Prairie finished their season with 7 straight wins and a 22-7 record. Those final 7 games were played in 6 different venues. The second place finish for Potlatch was the 6th in their school history without ever winning a state title. Prairie 12 12 20 15 -59 Potlatch 14 17 4 16 -51 Prairie-D. Schumacher 2-6, 0-0, 4; Mager 4-5, 2-3, 10; Forsmann 3-8, 5-6, 11; Ross 5-10, 1-2, 12; S. Schumacher 7-11, 1-1, 16; Schlader 2-5, 1-2, 6; Shears 0-0, 0-0, 0. 3-pointers-Ross, S. Schumacher, Schlader. Potlatch-B. Hadaller 3-13, 4-6, 12; Ju. Nicholson 2-5, 0-0, 5; Akins 7-13, 2-2, 16; Cvancara 1-1, 0-0, 2; D. Hadaller 2-3, 2-2, 6; Wilcoxsen 3-4, 4-5, 10; Je. Nicholson 0-2, 0-0, 0. 3-pointers-B. Hadaller 2, Ju. Nicholson.
Sam Mager takes the ball into the lane against Lapwai. 
Spencer Schumacher and Devin Ross share a hug after the Potlatch win. 
Hayden Uhlenkott charged on to the court to give Sam Mager a hug after the clock struck zero in the championship game. 
That may be the highest Spencer Schumacher has jumped all season as he celebrates winning state against Potlatch. Spencer Schumacher named tournament MVP The Idahosports.com broadcast crews picked their all-state tournament teams. Spencer Schumacher of Prairie was named as the MVP for the 1A-D1 State Tournament after averaging 16.3 points and 11 rebounds per game. Making the first team was Devin Ross. Sam Mager was named as an honorable mention and Cole Schlader received the 6th Man Award. PIRATES BOYS BASKETBALL SCHEDULE FOR 2018-19 JV games start at 6 p.m., varsity to follow unless indicated *indicates league game DECEMBER 4-Kamiah, here*, won 67-28 7-Grangeville, there, Idaho County Shootout, V only, 7:30 p.m., lost 56-66 8-Troy Quad, here*, 4 & 5:30, won 56-35 13-Lapwai, there*, lost 56-66 15-Genesee, here*, won 63-44 20-22-Truckstop.com Christmas Tourn. at C of I, beat Nyssa 47-43, beat Marsing 52-44, beat Liberty Charter 35-27 4-Moscow, here, (C,JV,V) 4 p.m., lost 39-52 8-C.V., there*, won 63-31 11-Potlatch, there*, won 52-46 15-Kamiah, there*, won 72-51 19-Troy Quad, there*, 2 & 3:30, won 74-21 22-Lapwai, here*, lost 46-62 25-Potlatch, here*--date changed due to conflict with girls District Tournament, won 49-42 26-Ambrose @ Riggins, 3 & 4:30 MST, won 55-41 5-C.V., here*, won 65-31 7-Moscow, there, (C,JV,V) 4 p.m., lost 56-61 14-20-District at LCSC-lost to Potlatch 33-38; beat Genesee 67-32; beat Troy 76-49 (details next week) 21-State Play-In at Post Falls, 6 p.m. vs. Wallace, won 58-50 23-State Play-In at McCall, 1 p.m. MST vs. Oakley, won 54-34 Feb. 28-March 2-State at Vallivue High in Caldwell, open against Challis at 6:15 p.m. MST, beat Challis 45-38; beat Lapwai 59-42, Beat Potlatch 59-51. PIRATES BASEBALL SCHEDULE FOR 2019 MARCH 19-at C.V., 4:30 p.m. 23-at Nezperce (2), 11 a.m. 28-at Pomeroy, 4:30 p.m. 11-Grangeville, here, 4:30 p.m. 13-Troy, here (2), 11 a.m. 16-at Kamiah, 4:30 p.m. 18-Lapwai, here, 4:30 p.m. 22-Pomeroy, here, 4:30 p.m. 23-Genesee, here (2), 4:30 p.m. 25-Kamiah, here, 4:30 p.m. 27-Potlatch, here (2), Noon. 29-at Grangeville, 4:30 p.m. 7-District Play-in, #6 at #3, #5 at #4 9-11-District Baseball @ Orofino 17-18-State Baseball @ Glenns Ferry |
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