The Prairie Pirates finished their regular season by winning 2 of their last 3 games. On Tuesday, Feb. 8 they edged Grangeville on Senior Night, 38-36 at Cottonwood. On Friday they traveled to Moscow and closed out their league season with a 55-63 loss to Logos. On Monday, Feb. 14 they closed their regular season with a 36-34 win at Orofino.
Prairie’s 5 seniors were honored before the game along with all the senior band members.
Seniors Travis Alfrey, Wyatt Ross, Kyle Schwartz, Zach Rambo and Lane Schumacher were the starters for the Pirates. Prairie won the tap and then intentionally turned the ball over to stop the clock and get injured seniors Alfrey and Schwartz off the floor with Lee Forsmann and Shane Hanson taking their places.
Grangeville took a 4-0 lead in the game but Forsmann put Prairie on the scoreboard with a 3-pointer at the 4:22 mark. Ross followed with a free throw to tie it and then sank a 3-pointer to give Prairie their first lead.
Grangeville scored to make it 7-6 at the end of the first quarter.
It remained low scoring in the second quarter with both teams struggling to score against the other team’s zone defense.
Despite the low scoring, the lead changed hands 6 times in the second quarter. Grangeville opened the scoring to take the lead by Forsmann answered with a lay-up for a 9-8 Prairie lead.
Grangeville scored again but Schumacher answered with a 3 to give Prairie back the lead at 12-10.
Grangeville scored 4 straight points for a 12-14 lead but Forsmann converted a 3-point play with 45 seconds left to give the Pirates a 15-14 halftime lead.
Prairie held the lead throughout the third quarter although Grangeville twice pulled within 1 point at 18-17 and 21-20. Each time Prairie answered with a 3-pointer. The first time it was Zach Rambo and the second time it was Schumacher. Hanson followed Schumacher’s 3 with a basket for a 26-20 lead.
Grangeville cut the lead to 3 at 27-24 by the end of the quarter.
Grangeville was never able to take the lead in the fourth quarter but tied the score twice.
Prairie led twice by 6 early in after a 3 by Schumacher made it 30-24 and against after 2 free throws by Rambo made it 32-26.
Grangeville then scored 6 straight points to tie the game with 2:30 left.
Forsmann made 2 free throws to put Prairie back on top.
Prairie then went to a spread and got a backdoor lay-up from Rambo with 1:20 left for a 36-32 lead.
Grangeville cut the lead to 2 with 55 seconds left. On the ensuing Prairie possession Rambo had a chance to push the lead back to 4 with 30 seconds to play but missed the front end of a 1 and 1.
Grangeville’s Caleb Frei then made 2 free throws with 14 seconds left to tie the game.
Prairie called timeout and set up a play where Rambo drove the lane using a screen to score the go-ahead lay-up with 5 seconds left. Grangeville called a timeout and then got the ball downcourt to Frei who had a good look at a possible game-winning 3 that barely missed.
Rambo wound up as the leading scorer for the Pirates with 12 points while Forsmann scored 11. Schumacher scored 9 on three 3-pointers. Ross scored 4 and Hanson scored 2.
Grangeville had a 25-31 edge on the boards. Hanson led the Pirates with 7 rebounds while Schumacher had 6.
Forsmann had 3 steals while Hanson, Rambo and Schumacher had 2 each. Rambo and Schumacher each had 4 assists.
Prairie was 12 for 32 from the field, 38%, and 7 for 10 at the lien, 70%. Grangeville was 15 for 49 from the field, 31%, and 5 of 6 at the line, 83%. The difference in the game was 3-pointers as Prairie had 7 and Grangeville had just 1.
Prairie won the JV game 45-40.
The Pirates led nearly the whole game, trailing only for the final 2 minutes of the third quarter.
Prairie led just 6-4 in the first quarter then scored 7 straight to lead 13-4 at the end of the period. Noah Behler scored 5 of those 7 with Benny Elven scoring the other 2.
Grangeville pulled within 3 points twice in the second quarter but Prairie led by as many as 8 points.
Grangeville pulled within 3 at 19-16 only to see Behler convert a 3-point play and Kaden Duclos follow with a steal and drive for a lay-up to make it 24-16. Grangeville hit a 3-point to make it a 5 point game at the half.
Grangeville scored the first 3 points of the third quarter but Prairie answered with 5 straight, 2 by Bheler and 3 by Morgan Poxleitner.
Grangeville then put together a 0-10 run to take their first lead of the game at 29-32. They led 32-34 at the end of the quarter.
Trenton Lorentz tied it with a putback to open the fourth quarter and Behler put the Pirates back on top with a basket.
Grangeville tied it then Prairie scored 4 straight points at the line as Elven and Matthew Wemhoff each sank both ends of 1 and 1’s.
Grangeville got back with 1 at 40-39 with 44 seconds left but Colton McElroy made both ends of a 1 and 1 five seconds later and Elven added a basket with 23 seconds left.
Grangeville made a free throw with 16 seconds left but Elven answered with a free throw with 12 seconds left to make the final score of 45-40.
Behler scored 13 points to lead the Pirates in scoring. Poxleitner scored 9, Elven 7, Wemhoff and McElroy 6 each and Lorentz and Duclos 2 each.
Grangeville had a 34-38 rebounding edge. Poxleitner led the Pirates with 8 rebounds while Lorentz had 7.
Behler and Wemhoff each had 3 steals and Behler and McElroy each had 2 assists.
Prairie was 16 for 40 from the field, 40%, and 12 for 21 at the line, 57%. Prairie was 7 for 8 at the line in the fourth quarter. Grangeville was 14 for 55 from the field, 25%, and 7 for 19 at the line, 37%.
The C team made it a clean sweep on the night with a 32-20 win.
Prairie        7 8 12 11 -38
Grangeville 6 8 10 12 -36
Prairie-Alfrey 0-0, 0-0, 0; Ross 1-5, 1-2, 4; Schwartz 0-0, 0-0, 0; Rambo 4-9, 2-3, 12; Schumacher 3-11, 0-0, 9; Hanson 1-2, 0-0, 2; Forsmann 3-5, 4-5, 11. 3-pointers-Schumacher 3, Rambo 2, Ross, Forsmann.
Grangeville-Lefebvre 3-12, 0-0, 6; J. Lindsley 1-6, 0-0, 2; Frei 3-9, 2-2, 8; Klement 5-9, 3-3, 14; S. Lindsley 3-13, 0-2, 6. 3-pointers-Klement.
The Pirates closed out their league schedule with a loss at Logos that led to them winding up tied for third in the standings. Prairie gets the #3 seed into District thanks to the tie-breaker.
The game was senior night for the Knights’ 6 seniors giving them some added inspiration.
Prairie led just twice in the game, at 3-2 after a 3-pointer by Schumacher and 6-4 after a 3 by Rambo. Logos then scored 12 straight points to take the lead for good. During that stretch Prairie lost talented big man Forsmann to an injured ankle.
Forsmann tried to come back in the second quarter but eventually wound up back on the bench and out for the rest of the game.
Prairie trailed 8-16 at the end of the first quarter and 8-18 early in the second. Prairie then scored 7 straight to pull within 3 while Forsmann was back on the floor.
They then wound up getting outscored 4-11 the rest of the half as they trailed by 10 at halftime 19-29.
Two baskets by Rambo cut the deficit to 6 to open the third quarter but the Pirates couldn’t get any closer during the quarter.
Rambo tried to carry the team as he scored 12 of their 16 third quarter points. Ross and Hanson each scored 2.
Rambo kept carrying the load in the fourth quarter as he scored 14 of the Pirates 20 in the final frame. The closest the Pirates were able to get though was 5 points at 39-44 after a Rambo basket and 44-49 after a pair of Rambo free throws.
AT 44-49, Logos got 2 three’s from Will Casebolt and were suddenly up 11 points. After that the Pirates never got closer than 8.
Rambo wound up with a game-high 35 points. Ross was the Pirates’ second leading scorer with 7 points. Schumacher scored 6, Hanson 4, Noah Behler 2 and Forsmann 1.
Rebounding was even at 32 each. Rambo had 8 to lead the Pirates while Hanson had 7. Forsmann had 6 during the short time he was in the game.
Ross, Colton McElroy and Schumacher each had 1 steal. Ross had 3 assists.
Prairie was 18 for 50 from the field, 36%, and 16 for 19 at the line, 84%. Logos was 23 for 49 from the field, 47%, and 9 for 17 at the line, 53%.
Prairie won the JV game 45-36.
The Pirates jumped out to leads of 5-0 and 7-2 only to see Logos sink a couple of 3’s and come back for a 7-10 lead.
It was tied 12-12 at the end of the first quarter as Behler scored 5 and McElroy 4 in the quarter.
Logos scored the first 4 points of the second quarter and led until the 42 second mark when Poxleitner scored to tie the game at 19. Behler then put Prairie ahead with a free throw but Logos took the lead at the half on a buzzer beating 3-pointer from about 30 feet out.
The Pirates came roaring out in the third quarter and scored the first 9 points. 5 different players scored as Wemhoff, Lorentz, Elven and Weston Riener each scored a basket and Poxleitner a free throw.
Logos was held scoreless until the 33 second mark of the quarter. Elven scored on an inbounds play but Logos answered to make it 31-26 at the end of the 3.
Prairie had an 11-3 run to open the fourth quarter and all but put the game away. McElroy scored a basket and a free throw to open the quarter. After a Logos free throw, Wemhoff scored a basket. After a Logos basket Prairie scored 6 straight points as Lorentz and Behler each scored a basket and Wemhoff and Elven each added a free throw to make it 42-29 with 1:06 left.
Logos outscored the Pirates 3-7 the rest of the way but that just cut the final margin down to 9.
Prairie’s soring was about as balanced as you can get. They had 7 players score with 6 of them between 6 and 8 points. Wemhoff and Lorentz each scored 8 points. Poxleitner, Behler and Elven each scored 7. McElroy scored 6 and Riener scored 2.
Rebounding was even at 41-41. Behler had 13 to lead the Pirates.
Elven had 4 steals and Lorentz and McElroy had 2 assists each.
Prairie was 16 for 46 from the field, 35%, and 12 for 26 at the line, 46%. Logos was 13 for 56 from the field, 23%, and 5 for 9 at the line, 56%.
Prairie   8 11 16 20 -55
Logos 16 13 13 21 -63
Prairie-Ross 2-5, 3-4, 7; Rambo 12-22, 9-10, 35; Schumacher 2-12, 0-0, 6; Hanson 1-7, 2-2, 4; Forsmann 0-2, 1-2, 1; Poxleitner 0-0, 0-0, 0; Behler 1-2, 0-0, 2; McElroy 0-0, 0-0, 0; Wemhoff 0-0, 0-0, 0. 3-pointers-Rambo 2, Schumacher 2.
Logos-Nuttbrock 5-9, 6-7, 17; Kline 0-0, 0-0, 0; Casebolt 7-11, 1-2, 18; Elmore 2-7, 0-2, 4; Druffel 2-7, 1-1, 5; Whitling 6-9, 1-5, 16; Wilson 1-6, 0-0, 3; Driskill 0-0, 0-0, 0. 3-pointers-Casebolt 3, Whitling 3, Wilson.
In the game at Orofino Forsmann did not even suit up after injuring his ankle at Logos. Schwartz suited up and warmed up with the team but didn’t play. He is expected to be ready for the District game on Wednesday against C.V.
In the game the Pirates outscored the Maniacs in the first and third quarters but really struggled in the second.
Orofino took early leads of 0-2 and 2-4 then Rambo hit a 3 to give Prairie their first lead. Orofino tied it with a free throw then Schumacher hit back to back 3’s for an 11-5 lead. Poxleitner, in his first varsity start, scored to make it 13-5 on an inbounds feed from Schumacher.
Orofino scored to close out the quarter and make it 13-7.
In the second quarter the Pirates went without a basket for over 6½ minutes as Orofino took a 13-17 lead. Rambo finally broke through at the 1:22 mark with a drive to the hoop for a lay-up. Orofino responded with the third 3-pointer of the quarter by Joel Scott to give Orofino a 15-20 lead at the half.
The Pirates turned things around in the third quarter as they scored the first 9 points to retake the lead. Schumacher started it with 2 free throws then added a 3-pointer. Rambo scored  a basket and Poxleitner added a putback to make it 24-20.
After a 3 by Orofino closed the gap to 1, Rambo scored a baseline jumper and Schumacher hit another 3 to make it 29-23.
Orofino closed the quarter with 4 straight points to cut the lead to 29-27.
Schumacher opened the fourth quarter with a 3 and Orofino responded with a 2. Rambo scored with 6:10 left to make it 34-29. Prairie then went on a long scoring drought with Orofino scoring 5 straight points to tie the game at 34 with 1:33 left.
Orofino then looked to take the lead but Poxleitner took a charge with 40 seconds left to give Prairie the ball.
Prairie worked the ball around and called a timeout with 21 seconds left. Rambo wound up taking a shot with about 5 seconds left from the right elbow but missed. The rebound went toward the left baseline where Schumacher grabbed the ball and turned and shot the ball. The shot went in and the buzzer went off. Orofino called timeout as the shot went in and the referees determined there should be 1.6 seconds left. The clock operator had some trouble resetting the clock but wound up running it down and was able to stop it with exactly 1.6 seconds left, getting a cheer from both sets of fans. Orofino inbounded and their long 3-point attempt missed giving the Pirates their second buzzer-beating win in 3 games.
Schumacher led the scoring with 19 points. Rambo added 11, Poxleitner 4 and Hanson 2.
Orofino had a 31-39 advantage on the boards. Schumacher had 8 to lead the Pirates with Poxleitner adding 6.
Poxleitner, Rambo and Schumacher each had 2 steals while Ross had 4 assists.
Poxleitner had 4 blocked shots and Hanson had 1.
Prairie was 14 for 45 from the field, 31%, and 2 for 3 at the line, 67%. Orofino was 13 for 49 from the field, 27%, and 4 for 8 at the line, 50%.
Prairie had six 3-pointers, 5 by Schumacher, compared to 4 for Orofino.
The Pirates end their regular season with a record of 15-5 overall and 9-5 in league play.
With Poxleitner and Behler pulled up to full-time varsity status with Forsmann out, the JV team struggled and wound up losing 28-55.
They fell behind 2-6 then scored 6 straight to take the lead. McElroy had a basket and Riener scored a basket and 2 free throws in the run. Orofino came back though and led 10-15 by the end of the quarter.
In the second quarter the Pirates closed within 2 at 19-21 with 3:05 left in the half after a 3-pointer by Dylan Uhlenkott. Unfortunately the Pirates then went on an extended scoring drought. Orofino scored 9 straight to end the half with a 19-30 lead, then scored the first 14 points of the second half to open up a 19-44 lead.
Logan Weber finally broke through with a basket at the 4:12 mark of the third quarter and then scored again a minute later. Prairie trailed 25-47 after 3 quarters.
Prairie scored just 3 points in the fourth quarter, a free throw by McElroy and a basket by Elven.
Riener wound up as the leading scorer with 8 points. Elven, Briggs Rambo and Weber each scored 4. McElroy and Uhlenkott scored 3 each and Lorentz scored 2.
Orofino dominated the boards 27-44. Lorentz led Prairie with 5 rebounds.
Wemhoff had 6 steals and 3 assists.
Prairie was 12 for 52 from the field, 23%, and 3 for 7 at the line, 43%. Orofino was 24 for 44 from the field, 55%, and 7 for 20 at the line, 35%.
The C team also lost as they fell in overtime 34-36.
Prairie 13   2 14 7 -36
Orofino 7 13 7 7 -34
Prairie-Ross 0-2, 0-0, 0; Rambo 5-14, 0-0, 11; Schumacher 6-15, 2-2, 19; Poxleitner 2-3, 0-1, 4; Hanson 1-8, 0-0, 2; Behler 0-3, 0-0, 0. 3-pointers-Schumacher 5, Rambo.
Orofino-Sneddon 2-11, 0-0, 4; Schneider 1-3, 0-0, 2; Drobish 2-6, 0-0, 5; Scott 4-14, 2-4, 13; Thomas 2-10, 0-2, 4; Graham 1-2, 0-0, 2; Howell 1-2, 2-2, 4; Cochran 0-1, 0-0, 0. 3-pointers-Scott 3, Drobish.