| Pirates
clinch state berth
The Prairie Pirates did something they haven’t done in 27 years when they clinched a berth in the state tournament by beating Kendrick 63-37 Friday, Feb. 20 at the LCSC Activity Center in Lewiston. 
Kendrick led by two points at halftime thanks to a buzzer-beating 3-pointer but Prairie totally dominated the second half. The first quarter was back and forth with 5 Pirate turnovers contributing to Kendrick’s scoring as Prairie led just 11-8 despite hitting 5 of 8 shots from the field while Kendrick was 3 for 15. Prairie held their 3-point lead thanks to a last second 3-pointer by David Sigler. Both teams shot well in the second quarter as Prairie was 5 for 11 while Kendrick was 8 for 13. Kendrick’s Ben Warner scored 7 points in the quarter and when he didn’t score he was making the pass that led to a score. That allowed Kendrick to outscore Prairie 15-20 and take the halftime lead. Also Kendrick had no turnovers in the first half while Prairie had 7. At halftime Kyle Daly asked to be put on Warner defensively in the second half and Daly was able to limit his touches allowing him just 1 second-half field goal. Meanwhile Prairie jumped all over Kendrick offensively scoring the first 9 points of the second half on a basket each by Branden Waller, Sigler and Tyler Forsmann and then Sigler capped the run with a wide-open 3-pointer on a skip pass from Eric Daly. Warner then scored 2 free throws for Kendrick but Prairie answered with another 9-0 run. Eric Daly and Forsmann each scored a basket, Waller buried a 3-pointer and Kyle Daly scored to make it 44-30. Kendrick added a basket to make it 44-32 heading into the fourth quarter. The Pirates had outscored Kendrick 18-4 in the quarter to take control. Kendrick, which had 0 turnovers the entire first half, committed 5 turnovers in the third quarter alone. Prairie dominated the fourth quarter nearly as much as the third as they outscored the Tigers 19-5 with runs of 7 and 6 points. Waller scored 8 of his game-high 17 points in the quarter including another 3-pointer. Tyler Forsmann got off to a slow start, hitting just 2 of his first 6 shots but made 6 of his last 7 to wind up with 16 points. Sigler added 15 points on 6 for 11 shooting while Devin Schmidt and Kyle Holthaus scored 4 points each, Andrew Gabica scored 3 and Eric and Kyle Daly scored 2 each. Prairie dominated the boards 37-21 with Waller grabbing 10 rebounds. Forsmann and Schmidt had 6 rebounds each. Sigler had 7 assists while Eric Daly added 4 and Schmidt 3. Kyle Daly, Schmidt and Sigler had 1 steal each. Prairie had one of their best shooting efforts of the season as they hit 26 of 44 shots for 59%. They were 3 for 5 at the line, 60%. Kendrick was 13 for 47 from the field, 28%, but just 2 for 19 in the second half, 11%. They were 8 for 14 at the line, 57%. Prairie advances to the District Championship game against Genesee on Thursday, Feb. 26. They would play their first round game at state at either 6:15 p.m. MST if they win or 3 p.m. MST if they lose. The 1A Div. I boys tournament will be held at Vallivue High School in Caldwell March 5-7. Assistant coach Kevin Chaffee was on the last Prairie boys team to advance to state, the 1982 state A-3 champions. In fact Prairie has a 5-game winning streak at state as the 1977 team won their final 2 games to win the consolation trophy. Prairie improves to 17-5 with the win. Prairie 11 15 18 19 -63 Kendrick 8 20 4 5 -37 Prairie-E. Daly 1-2, 0-0, 2; K. Daly 1-1, 0-0, 2; Sigler 6-11, 1-1, 15; Forsmann 8-13, 0-0, 16; Waller 7-13, 1-2, 17; Schmidt 2-3, 0-0, 4; Holthaus 2-2, 0-0, 4; Schaeffer 0-0, 0-0, 0; Gabica 1-1, 1-2, 3; Schumacher 0-0, 0-0, 0; Schlader 0-0, 0-0, 0; Guyer 0-0, 0-0, 0. 3-pointers-Sigler 2, Waller 2. Kendrick-Boyle 0-3, 0-0, 0; Liedkie 2-8, 0-0, 4; Burke 2-9, 1-2, 7; Warner 5-12, 6-7, 16; Curtice 3-8, 1-4, 8; Christopher 0-0, 0-0, 0; Ireland 0-1, 0-0, 0; Hardin 0-1, 0-0, 0; Hammond 1-5, 0-1, 2. 3-pointers-Burke 2, Curtice.
PIRATES BOYS BASKETBALL SCHEDULE FOR 2008-09 *indicates league game 8-Genesee, here, lost 35-53 11-Grangeville, here, lost 50-54 15-Kamiah, there, won 54-45 18-Troy, there, postponed, no makeup date yet set 29-Wilder Tournament, lost to Jordan Valley, no score available 30-Wilder Tournament, won 74-28 over Idaho City 31-Council, there, cancelled 10-C.V., there*, won 48-34 13-Troy, here*, won 55-34 15-Grangeville, there, won 57-44 16-Deary, there*, won 43-28 22-Timberline, there*, won 53-44 24-Lapwai, here*, won 62-32 27-Highland, here, won 67-25 29-Nezperce, here, won 53-40 5-Genesee, there*, lost 55-61 9-Culdesac, here, won 75-40 11-Salmon River, there, varsity only starting at 7 p.m. MST,won 53-19 13-Kamiah, here, lost 51-61 16,20,24,26-District at LCSC, beat C.V. 56-28, beat Kendrick 63-37, to play Genesee for District title at 7:45 p.m. 2/26 March 5-7-State at Vallivue High School in Caldwell. |
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