Pirates advance to State
The Prairie Pirates punched their ticket to State by taking second place in the District Tournament. They opened with a 56-49 win over Genesee on Wednesday, Feb. 24 at Cottonwood. On Friday, Feb. 26, they lost 54-83 at Lapwai. On Saturday, Feb. 27, they hosted Genesee again and had to rally from a 17 point deficit with just over 6 minutes left to win 63-58.
In the Genesee game on Wednesday Cole Schlader had his highest scoring game of the season with 31 points to lead the Pirates to a wire-to-wire win.
Prairie jumped out to an 8-0 lead as Zach Rambo scored on a drive, Lane Schumacher scored in transition and Schlader made a pair of baskets.
After a Genesee basket, Schlader added 2 midrange jumpers for a 12-2 lead.
Schlader added another basket and Rambo converted a 3-point play as Prairie led 17-10 at the end of the first quarter.
A basket each by Schlader and Tyler Wemhoff made it 21-10 early in the second quarter.
Genesee then put together a 2-10 run to cut their deficit to just 3 at 23-20 with 2:28 left in the half. Schlader then scored a pair of baskets to make it 27-20 at the half.
Schlader had scored nearly as many as Genesee in the first half as he had 18 of Prairie’s 27 points.
Genesee twice cut the lead to 4 in the third quarter at 27-23 and 29-25. After the second time Wemhoff made a steal and scored and Schlader followed with a basket and a free throw to push the lead back to 9 at 34-25.
After a Genesee basket Prairie scored 5 straight for a 39-27 lead. Rambo and Schlader each scored a basket and Schumacher added a free throw.
Prairie wound up taking a 43-33 lead into the fourth quarter.
A steal by Schlader for a lay-up and a 3 by Rambo made it 48-33 early in the fourth quarter. Genesee answered with 7 straight to get within 8 at 48-40.
A basket each by Schlader and Rambo put the lead back at 12 at 52-40. Genesee then had a 2-9 run to get within 5 with just under a minute to play.
Prairie was able to run clock and Wemhoff sank 2 free throws for the final 7-point margin.
Schlader was 15 for 22 shooting in the game for his 31 points to lead the team. Rambo was also in double figures with 16 points. Wemhoff scored 6 and Schumacher scored 3.
Cy Wareham, who didn’t play when the Pirates won at Genesee, led the Bulldogs with 27 points while Dawson Durham scored 11. Durham is the one who scored 38 when Prairie won the league game at Cottonwood.
Prairie had a 31-29 edge on the boards with Wemhoff grabbing 10 and Schlader 9 rebounds to lead the Pirates.
Wemhoff had 4 steals while Schlader and Schumacher each had 3. Schumacher had 4 assists.
Prairie was 25 for 51 from the field, 49%, and 5 for 11 at the line, 45%. Genesee was 19 for 49 from the field, 39%, and 7 for 11 at the line, 73%.
Prairie     17 10 16 13 -56
Genesee 10 10 13 16 -49
Prairie-Schlader 15-22, 1-3, 31; Ross 0-0, 0-0, 0; Rambo 7-11, 1-1, 16; Schumacher 1-6, 1-2, 3; Wemhoff 2-6, 2-2, 6; Hasselstrom 0-3, 0-2, 0; Schwartz 0-3, 0-1, 0. 3-pointers-none.
Genesee-Owen 0-2, 0-2, 0; Crowley 1-4, 0-0, 2; Spence 2-6, 2-2, 6; Wareham 10-20, 5-7, 27; Durham 5-12, 0-0, 11; Schwartz 1-4, 0-0, 3; Zenner 0-1, 0-0, 0; Mayer 0-0, 0-0, 0. 3-pointers-Wareham 2, Durham, Schwartz.
The District Championship game at Lapwai on Friday was similar to Prairie’s 2 regular season outings against the Wildcats. Prairie fell way behind early and never really recovered.
Prairie had a chance to score first but missed 2 free throws. Lapwai’s Kross Taylor converted a 3-point play and Wemhoff answered with a basket to make it 2-3. Lapwai then scored 9 straight for a 2-12 lead.
The Wildcats led 11-28 at the end of the first quarter as Lapwai junior Titus Yearout and freshman Kase Wynott scored 9 and 10 points respectively.
Wynott kept it up in the second quarter with 12 more points as he had 22 in the first half. Prairie trailed by as many as 25 at 20-45 before scoring 3 free throws to make it 23-45 at the half.
Nothing much changed in the third quarter as Prairie twice trailed by as many as 28 and trailed 42-67 after 3 quarters.
The biggest loss for the Pirates in the third quarter came with 5:07 left when Rambo went down with an ankle injury. He came down on the side of a Lapwai player’s foot and rolled it.
Brody Hasselstrom went in for Rambo and scored well for the Pirates however he and Schlader were both battling foul trouble and both went out of the game with their fifth within 30 seconds of each other around the 5 minute mark of the fourth quarter.
In fact it was two free throws scored when Hasselstrom fouled out that put Lapwai up 31 and invoked the running clock.
Prairie trailed by as many as 34 before outscoring Lapwai 7-2 in the final 3:40 to get the final deficit under 30 at 54-83.
Schlader had 19 points to lead the Pirates with Hasselstrom adding 12, 10 of those in the third quarter after Rambo went out.
Wemhoff scored 6, Wyatt Ross 5, Rambo 4, Schumacher and Kyle Schwartz 2 each and Shane Hanson and Lee Forsmann 1 each.
Lapwai had a 37-42 edge on the boards. Schlader and Wemhoff each had 8 to lead the Pirates.
Wemhoff and Schumacher each had 2 steals and Ross had 3 assists.
Prairie was 18 for 51 from the field, 35%, and 16 for 38 at the line, 42%. Lapwai was 30 for 63 from the field, 48%, and 18 for 24 at the line, 75%.
Prairie   11 12 19 12 -54
Lapwai 28 17 22 16 -83
Prairie-Schlader 8-15, 3-9, 19; Ross 2-4, 1-4, 5; Rambo 2-7, 0-2, 4; Schumacher 1-8, 0-4, 2; Wemhoff 2-6, 2-4, 6; Hasselstrom 2-6, 7-9, 12; Schwartz 1-2, 0-1, 2; Hanson 0-2, 1-2, 1; Forsmann 0-1, 1-2, 1; Alfrey 0-0, 0-0, 0. 3-pointers-Hasselstrom.
Lapwai-Ellenwood-Jones-2-7, 5-5, 10; T. Yearout 8-15, 4-6, 10; Taylor 3-10, 3-5, 9; Wynott 11-16, 6-7, 30; Ellenwood 4-4, 0-1, 9; Sobotta 0-5, 0-0, 0; A. Yearout 1-3, 0-0, 3; Brown 0-1, 0-0, 0; Kash Kash 1-2, 0-0, 2; Miles 0-0, 0-0, 0. 3-pointers-Wynott 2, Ellenwood-Jones, Ellenwood, A. Yearout.
The second place game against Genesee saw a similar start to the one 3 nights earlier as Prairie jumped out to a 7-0 Lead on a 3 by Lane Schumacher and 2 baskets by Wemhoff.
Schumacher added 2 more 3-pointers in the quarter to put Prairie up 10-4 and 13-11 but Genesee was able to tie it at the end of the quarter on a basket by Wareham.
Genesee then started the second quarter with a 0-6 run to take a 13-19 lead.
A free throw by Schlader, his only point of the first half, and a 3 by Rambo, cut the deficit to 17-19. Rambo was able to play due to exemplary treatment by assistant coach Dr. Justin Jones who did a great tape job. Rambo was obviously favoring the bad ankle and didn’t start but played som significant minutes and made some huge shots.
After Rambo’s 3, Genesee had a 0-7 run to take a 9-point lead with 1:52 left in the half. A lay-up by Hanson, a 3 by Schumacher and a basket by Rambo in the final seconds cut the halftime deficit to 24-29.
Genesee opened the second half with a 3-15 run to built a 17 point lead at 27-44 with 3:31 left in the quarter. Prairie then gave a preview of things to come with a 10-0 run to pull within 7. Schlader scored a putback, Wemhoff scored twice, Schlader scored 2 free throws and added a driving lay-up to make it 37-44 with 1:28 left in the third.
Wareham scored for Genesee to give the Bulldogs a 37-46 lead after 3 quarters.
The fourth quarter then started with a 0-8 run by Genesee, all by Durham, to rebuild their lead to 17 at 37-54 with 6:14 left to play.
After a timeout during which we assume coach Shawn Wolter exhorted his team to amp up the defense, the Pirates started their comeback with a 3 by Rambo. Schumacher made a free throw and after a steal by Schumacher, Rambo scored a putback.
Another Genesee turnover led to a basket by Schumacher.
Schumacher then forced a Genesee turnover that led to 2 free throws by Schlader to cut the deficit to 7 with 3:52 left. 7 seconds later Genesee turned the ball over again and that led to a 3 by Rambo with 3:14 left.
With 2:38 left Schlader scored a putback and sank the ensuing free throw to complete a 16-0 run and cut the deficit to just 1 point at 53-54.
Durham finally broke the run with a basket but Schlader answered on the other end with a 3-pointer that tied the game with 2:00 to play.
Schlader then rebounded a missed shot by Durham and converted to a go-ahead basket on the other end with 1:32 left.
Genesee’s Austin Crowley tied it with basket but Schlader came down and hit a midrange shot to put Prairie ahead for good with 50 seconds left.
Wyatt Ross added a free throw and Schlader sank 2 of them to complete the scoring and give the Pirates a thrilling win, 63-58.
Schlader wound up with 23 points, 22 in the second half and 14 in the fourth quarter and also had 14 rebounds. Schumacher chipped in 15 points while Rambo added 13 in limited minutes. Wemhoff scored 8, Hanson 2 and Ross 1.
Genesee had a 36-43 edge on the boards. Wemhoff had 9 boards.
Schumacher and Schlader each had 3 steals and Schlader had 3 assists.
Prairie was 22 for 60 from the field, 37%, and 11 for 16 at the line, 69%. Genesee was 23 for 61 from the field, 38%, and 7 for 14 at the line, 50%.
Prairie will take a 17-5 record into the State Tournament.
Prairie     13 11 13 26 -63
Genesee 13 16 17 12 -58
Prairie-Schlader 7-16, 8-9, 23; Ross 0-2, 1-2, 1; Schumacher 5-14, 1-2, 15; Wemhoff 4-8, 0-1, 8; Hasselstrom 0-9-1-2, 1; Rambo 5-10, 0-0, 13; Schwartz 0-0, 0-0, 0; Hanson 1-1, 0-0, 2. 3-pointers-Schumacher 4, Rambo 3, Schlader.
Genesee-Schwartz 1-9, 2-4, 5; Crowley 1-3, 1-2, 3; Spence 3-7, 0-0, 0; Wareham 5-14, 0-2, 10; Durham 11-24, 3-4, 26; Owen 2-2, 1-2, 5; Zenner 0-1, 0-0, 0; Meyer 0-0, 0-0, 0. 3-pointers-Spence 3, Schwartz, Durham.