Lady Pirates earn State Berth
For the sixth time in the past seven seasons the Prairie Lady Pirates reached the state championship game only to come away with the second place trophy as they lost to Grace 37-46 at the Idaho Center in Nampa Friday, Feb. 19.
Earlier in the state tournament they had beaten Rimrock 53-43 on Wednesday, Feb. 17 and Lighthouse Christian 50-32 on Thursday, Feb. 18. Both of those games were played at Columbia High School in Nampa.
Prairie got off to a slow start in their opener against Rimrock (located at Bruneau, which is south of Mountain Home). The Raiders jumped out to a 2-11 lead with Tara Schlader scoring Prairie’s 2 points.
Schlader scored 2 free throws but Rimrock countered with a basket. Madison Shears hit a pair of 3-pointers around another Rimrock basket to cut the lead to 10-15. Schlader and Delanie Lockett each scored to pull the Pirates within 1 at 14-15 but Rimrock’s Sami Jewett ended the quarter with a 25 foot 3-pointer to make it 14-18 at the break. Those were the only Rimrock points over a span of over 7 minutes as Prairie took control.
The Lady Pirates opened the second quarter with a 13-0 run which was part of a 20-3 run that went from the 1:30 mark of the first quarter until the 2:13 mark of the second.
Shears opened the second quarter with a midrange shot. Kristin Wemhoff then cut to the basket with Schlader feeding her for a lay-up that tied the game at 18-18. A free throw by Wemhoff gave Prairie their first lead of the game at 19-18 with 5:47 left in the half. Lockett and Shears then each hit a 3-pointer and Lockett made a putback for a 27-18 lead.
Rimrock finally scored again at the 2:13 mark and added a basket and a free throw to pull within 4 at 27-23.
Schlader made the front end of a 1 and 1 but Rimrock came back with a 3-pointer in the final seconds by Sintia Varela, the Raiders best player. That made it 28-26 at the half.
Ellea Uhlenkott made a free throw to open the third quarter but Rimrock pulled within 1 with a basket.
A steal by Schlader led to a basket by Wemhoff and Hope Schwartz followed with a free throw and then a lay-up on an inbounds pass from Laney Forsmann to make it 34-28.
Two baskets by Varela bracketed a basket but Lockett and cut the lead to 4 with 2:09 left in the third. Prairie then closed the quarter with a 5-0 run to take a 41-32 lead. Forsmann made 2 free throws and Schwartz scored a free throw and then a putback.
Varela opened the fourth quarter with a basket but Wemhoff counted with a 3-point play after getting a second chance at the free throw on a Rimrock lane violation.
The teams traded points with Rimrock cutting the lead to 8 then Prairie pushing it back to 10 four times until Prairie scored 3 points in a row late in the game when Shears made 2 free throws and Lockett 1 for an 11 points lead with 49 seconds left.
Rimrock scored a final free throw to make the final margin 10 points.
Shears scored 15 to lead the Pirates in scoring with Wemhoff and Lockett each nearly earning a double-double. Wemhoff had 12 points and 9 rebounds and Lockett had 10 points and 9 rebounds. Schlader scored 7, Schwartz 6, Forsmann 2 and Uhlenkott 1.
Prairie had a 41-30 edge on the boards.
Varela led the Raiders with 19 points.
Schlader had 6 steals and Wemhoff 5 while Uhlenkott and Lockett each had 4 assists.
Prairie was 17 for 46 from the field,  37%, and 15 for 27 at the line, 56%. Rimrock was 17 for 47 from the field, 36%, and 5 for 16 at the line, 31%.
Prairie    14 14 13 12 -53
Rimrock 18   8   6 11 -43
Prairie-Lockett 4-9, 1-2, 10; Wemhoff 5-12, 2-8, 12; Shears 4-14, 4-4, 15; Uhlenkott 0-2, 1-3, 1; Schlader 2-6, 3-4, 7; Schwartz 2-3, 2-4, 6; Forsmann 0-0, 2-2, 2; Johnson 0-0, 0-0, 0. 3-pointers-Shears 3, Lockett.
Rimrock-Smith1-7, 1-2, 3; Varela 8-18, 1-2, 19; Gomez 1-4, 0-0, 2; Macmillan 5-10, 2-6, 12; Jewett 2-6, 1-2, 7; Moore 0-1, 0-2, 0; Hipwell 0-0, 0-0, 0; Draper 0-1, 0-0, 0. 3-pointers-Varela 2, Jewett 2.
The semifinal game against Lighthouse Christian of Twin Falls followed a similar script to the Rimrock game. Prairie struggled in the first quarter and then dominated in the second quarter as they went on to win.
Lighthouse jumped out to a 6-17 lead in the first quarter thanks in large part to three 3-pointers by senior guard Lauren Gomez. Lighthouse made just one 3-pointer the rest of the game with Gomez going 0 for 5 after her initial flurry.
Wemhoff had 1 basket and Uhlenkott 2 for Prairie’s 6 points.
After Gomez’ third 3-pointer at the 3:32 mark of the first quarter, Lighthouse went ice-cold as they scored just 1 point the rest of the first half and that come with 26 seconds left. In the meantime Prairie scored 24 unanswered points.
Schlader started it with a free throw with Lockett and Uhlenkott each adding a basket to make it 11-17 at the end of the first quarter.
Uhlenkott started the second quarter scoring with a drive to the hoop and Shears followed with her own drive for a lay-up. Shears then took an outlet pass from Schlader and drove the length of the court for a lay-up to tie the game at 17 with 6:35 left in the half.
Schlader hit a shot from the elbow to five Prairie their first lead at the 6:03 mark. Wemhoff followed by rebounding her own miss and scoring. Wemhoff then stole the ball and drove for a lay-up. Uhlenkott followed with another steal and drive for a lay-up.
Another steal by Uhlenkott led to a basket by Lockett. Wemhoff hit the first of 2 free throws and Schlader sank 2 free throws when she was fouled on a putback attempt. That made it 30-14 with 1:14 left in the half.
Lighthouse finally scored again on a free throw to make it 30-15 at the half.
Shears opened the second half scoring with a 3-pointer and Lockett followed with a basket to make it 35-18. After a Lighthouse basket, Shears and Wemhoff each scored a basket after making a steal. After another Lighthouse basket, Schwartz scored a basket and Schlader made 2 free throws to give Priarie a 43-22 lead.
Lighthouse scored a basket and Uhlenkott a free throw as Prairie took a 44-24 lead into the fourth quarter.
Prairie opened the fourth quarter with a 6-1 run to build their lead to 25 at 50-25 with 4:55 to play. The Pirates then were content to work clock and Lighthouse scored the game’s final 7 points to make the final margin 18.
Uhlenkott scored 11 points to lead Prairie in scoring with Wemhoff and Shears adding 9 points each. Schlader scored 7. Lockett and Schwartz scored 6 each and Forsmann scored 2.
Prairie had a 44-41 edge on the boards led by Schlader with 12 rebounds.
Uhlenkott had 8 steals while Shears had 5 and Wemhoff 4. Schlader and Lockett each had 3 assists.
Prairie was 21 for 59 from the field, 36%, and 7 for 15 at the line, 47%. Lighthouse was 12 for 49 from the field, 24%, and 4 for 8 at the line, 50%.
Prairie       11 19 14 6 -50
Lighthouse 17   1   6 8 -32
Prairie-Lockett 3-9, 0-0, 6; Wemhoff 4-9, 1-2, 9; Shears 4-15, 0-0, 9; Uhlenkott 5-6, 1-2, 11; Schlader 1-5, 5-8, 7; Forsmann 1-1, 0-1, 2; Schwartz 3-9, 0-0, 6; Johnson 0-5, 0-2, 0; Rehder 0-0, 0-0, 0; Klapprich 0-0, 0-0, 0; Prigge 0-0, 0-1, 0. 3-pointers-Shears.
Lighthouse Christian-Wolverton 0-5, 3-4, 3; Shetler 0-1, 1-2, 1; Gomez 4-11, 0-0, 11; Thornton 6-21, 0-0, 12; Blakeslee 1-8, 0-2, 2; Rogers 1-3, 0-0, 3; DeJong 0-1, 0-0, 0. 3-pointers-Gomez 3, Rogers.
In the championship game against Grace, a team Prairie beat in the semifinals last season, the Pirates followed the script of their first 2 state games of falling behind in the first quarter and taking the lead in the second. However they also followed the script of their 3 losses against Lapwai as they had a lead in the fourth quarter but stopped scoring as their opponent came from behind to win.
Unlike their first two state games Prairie actually had a lead in the first quarter when Shears sank a 3-pointer at the 3:07 mark for a 7-6 lead.
Grace answered with their own 3-pointer and wound up leading 9-11 at the end of the quarter.
Likely 1A-D1 player of the year Maniah Clegg, had 6 of Grace’s 11 first quarter points while last year’s player of the year, Shears, had 5 of Prairie’s 9.
Clegg scored 2 free throws to open the second quarter but Prairie responded with a 6-0 run to take back the lead. Wemhoff made 2 free throws. Schlader scored on an inbounds play and Uhlenkott stole the ball and drove to the hoop for a basket.
Grace tied the game at 15 but Prairie then had another 6-0 run. Schlader made a free throw then stole the ball and drove for a basket. Lockett hit a free throw and Uhlenkott leapt to knock down a pass then took the ball in for a basket to make it 21-15 with 45 seconds left in the half.
Clegg sank 2 more free throws to cut the lead to 21-17 at halftime.
Prairie had forced 9 turnovers in the second quarter and Grace was just 1 for 10 from the field as Prairie outscored them 12-6.
Prairie opened the third quarter with a basket each by Wemhoff and Uhlenkott to take a 25-17 lead. Grace cut it to 5 but Shears sank a 3-pointer to push it back to 8.
Grace freshman Makenna Straatman scored a basket and a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 3 but a free throw by Uhlenkott and a basket each by Shears and Wemhoff pushed the lead back to 8 at 33-25.
Another Grace freshman scored a pair of baskets and both times missed opportunities for 3-point plays as Prairie’s lead was cut to 33-29 at the end of the quarter.
A 3-pointer and a free throw by Grace tied the score at 33 with 5:52 left.
Schlader picked up her fourth foul to give Grace the free throw. 48 seconds later, Schlader picked up her fifth foul.
Prairie took back the lead with 4:05 left when Wemhoff made a free throw after getting an extra attempt after a lane violation.
Grace then scored the next 7 points to take a 34-40 lead with 1:36 to play. Wemhoff scored another free throw to break the run but Grace then scored the next 5 straight points for a 35-45 lead with 18 seconds left and the game was essentially over.
Prairie’s final points came on 2 free throws by Forsmann, who had come in when Wemhoff fouled out with 45 seconds left.
Prairie went 0 for 14 from the field in the quarter and it wasn’t like they were forcing up shots. Most were good shots that just wouldn’t go in. Lockett was 0 for 4 in the quarter on shots she had made all season long. A couple of them were halfway down and spun out.
When Schlader went out, Prairie lost their best rebounder and Grace wound up outrebounding Prairie down the stretch. Schlader had also done a good job of holding Clegg in check as she made just 1 basket in the middle 2 quarters but made a pair of baskets to turn a 2-point lead into a 6-point lead.
Wemhoff and Shears each scored 10 points to lead Prairie in scoring. Uhlenkott and Schlader each scored 7 with Forsmann scoring 2 and Lockett 1.
Grace had a 33-38 edge on the boards. Wemhoff led Prairie with 8 rebounds while Schlader had 7 and Lockett 6. Clegg led Grace with 16 rebounds.
Uhlenkott had 5 steals and Lockett had 3 assists.
Prairie was 12 for 46 from the field, 26%, and 11 for 20 at the line, 55%. Grace was 15 for 40 from the field, 38%, and 14 for 25 at the line, 56%.
The Pirates finish their season with a 22-4 record.
Prairie has made the championship game in 8 of Lori Mader’s 11 years as coach, winning the first 2 but losing the last 6. Prairie has been in the championship game in 8 of the last 10 years and 7 of the last 8. By contrast Lapwai has been in the championship game 6 of the last 10 years.
Prairie  9 12 12   4 -37
Grace 11  6 12 17 -46
Prairie-Locklett 0-9, 1-2, 1; Wemhoff 3-9, 4-8, 10; Shears 3-14, 2-2, 10; Uhlenkott 3-9, 1-2, 7; Schlader 3-5, 1-4, 7; Schwartz 0-1, 0-0, 0; Forsmann 0-1, 2-2, 2. 3-pointers-Shears 2.
Grace-Anderson 1-5, 0-0, 2; Mansfield 0-0, 0-0, 0; Ma. Straatman 1-2, 0-2, 3; Lloyd 0-0, 0-0, 0; Clegg 6-9, 4-4, 16; Christensen 0-4, 0-0, 0; Smith 3-3, 1-4, 7; Walker 2-7, 2-2, 7; Me. Straatman 2-10, 5-10, 10; Rigby 0-0, 1-2, 1. 3-pointers-Ma. Straatman, Walker, Me. Straatman.