| Pirates
earn State Berth
The Prairie Pirates clinched a berth in the State Tournament with a 45-35 win over Potlatch in their District Tournament  opener
Tuesday, Feb. 14 at the LCSC Activity Center in Lewiston.
The game was a close, defensive battle all the way, similar to the last regular season meeting the two teams had at Cottonwood where Potlatch won in overtime. This time the Pirates knew about sophomore post DacotaHadaller and held him to 9 points on 3 for 8 shooting compared to the 17 points on 6 of 7 shooting in the last meeting. Prairie got the opening lead on a basket by Brandon Anderson. A 3-point play by Tyson Schlader and a 3-point shot by Anderson had Prairie up 8-4. A basket and a 3-pointer gave Potlatch their first, and it turned out only, lead at 8-9. Patrick Chmelik tied the game with a free throw and Schlader put Prairie on top for good with a 3-pointer with 1:35 left in the first quarter. Spencer Schumacher added a pair of free throws and Prairie led 14-13 at the quarter break. A basket each by Lucas Wemhoff and Chmelik put Prairie up 18-13. A 3-pointer cut the lead to 2 but Schumacher answered with a basket. After a Potlatch free throw but the lead to 3, Prairie closed out the half with a a basket each by Hunter Chaffee and Anderson for a 7 point halftime lead at 24-17. Prairie kept Potlatch’s offense off balance by switching between man and zone defenses. Potlatch was able to close within 4 in the third quarter at 29-25 but a 3-point play by Chmelik and a hook shot off the glass by Schumacher put Prairie up 34-25. Prairie led 34-27 going into the fourth quarter. Chaffee got fouled on a 3-point try to open the fourth quarter and made 2 of the 3 free throws. Schumacher followed with a 3-point play and Potlatch was down 39-27 with 6:07 to play. The Loggers went to 3-point shooting the rest of the way and made just 2 of 8 long-distance attempts and got no closer than 9 points the rest of the way. Schlader added a 3-point play and Schumacher a basket and a free throw to close out the scoring. Schlader and Schumacher each scored 12 points to lead the Pirates in scoring with Chmelik adding 8, Anderson 7, Chafee 4 and Wemhoff 2. Chmelik had 11 rebounds to lead Prairie to a 32-24 rebounding edge. Schumacher nearly had a double-double with 9 rebounds. Chmelik had 3 assists while Schlader and Wemhoff had 2 each. Schlader, Anderson and Chaffee each had 1 steal. Prairie was 16 for 35 from the field, 46%, and 10 for 19 at the line, 53%. Potlatch was 15 for 44 from the field, 34%, and 1 for 5 at the line, 20%. Potlatch had no free throw attempts in the second half. With the win Prairie advances to the district championship game Friday, Feb. 24 at 7:30 p.m. against Lapwai. They are 17-4 on the season. Prairie 14 10 10 11 -45 Potlatch 13 4 10 8 -35 Prairie-Schlader 4-4, 2-3, 12; Chmelik 3-7, 2-6, 8; Chaffee 1-8, 2-3, 4; Branson 0-1, 0-1, 0; Anderson 3-4, 0-0, 7; Schumacher 4-9, 4-6, 12; Wemhoff 1-3, 0-0, 2. 3-pointers-Schlader, Anderson. Potlatch-C. Thompson 2-8, 0-1, 4; C. Judson 3-3, 0-0, 6; Richards 5-16, 0-0, 12; G. Thompson 1-3, 0-2, 2; Hadaller 3-8, 1-2, 9; Akins 0-3, 0-0, 0; M. Judson 1-3, 0-0, 2. 3-pointers-Richards 2, Hadaller 2.
Lucas Wemhoff scores a lay-up against Potlatch at District. PIRATES BOYS BASKETBALL SCHEDULE FOR 2016-2017 *indicates league game 3-Grangeville, there, Idaho County Shootout, V only, 7:30 p.m., won 53-39 6-Kamiah, here, won 66-39 8-Troy, there*, won 48-18 15-C.V., here*-postponed due to weather 17-Lapwai, there*, (C,JV,V) 4:30, lost40-59 19-C.V., here*, makeup of 12/15 postponement, won74-29 20-Asotin, Quad, there, JV at 4:30, V at 6, C at 7:30 at Elem Gym, cancelled due to snow day school closure 5-Moscow, there, (C,JV,V), lost 29-44 7-Potlatch, there*, (C,JV,V) 1 p.m., won 62-41 13-Genesee, here*, won 53-35 18-Quad at Asotin rescheduled, JV at 6:00 p.m., V at 7:30 p.m., cancelled due to school closure, moved to Jan. 23 19-Kamiah, there*, postponed due to icy road conditions 21-Troy, here*, 4 p.m., won 63-36 23-Quad at Asotin rescheduled, again, won 56-38 24-C.V., there*, won 72-40 27-Lapwai, here*, (C,JV,V) 4:30, lost 38-46 30-Grangeville, here, won 68-40 3-Genesee, there*, won 72-61 4-Potlatch, here*, (C,JV,V) 1 p.m., lost 40-41 in overtime 7-Moscow, here, (C,JV,V) 4 p.m., won 72-60 9-Kendrick, here, won 71-30 *League game 14-District at LCSC vs. Potlatch, won 45-35 24-District Championship vs. Lapwai, 7:30 p.m. March 2-4-State at Caldwell |
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