| Pirates
earn State berth
The Prairie Pirates had to make it to State the hard way after getting drubbed by Lapwai 29-58 in the District Championship game Tuesday, Feb. 20 at the LCSC Activity Center. They bounced back with a 58-44 win over Potlatch on Thursday in the second place game and then beat Wallace in the state play-in game Saturday, Feb. 24 at Post Falls, 65-48. Prairie will play District 3 champion Ambrose at 2 p.m. PST, Thursday, March 1 at Vallivue High School in Caldwell. 
Lapwai closed out the opening quarter with 2 free throws to make it 4-10. Lapwai outscored the Pirates in the second quarter as well, 10-13, to take a 14-23 lead at the half. Spencer Schumacher scored 6 in the quarter to keep the Pirates within range. The third quarter is where things came unraveled for the Pirates. Spencer Schumacher opened the scoring with a free throw but Lapwai then scored 12 straight points and wound up with a 22-4 run the rest of the quarter. Nick Mager and Devin Ross scored 2 each for the Pirates in the quarter. Meanwhile Emmitt Taylor and Kendall Leighton scored 9 and 13 respectively for the Wildcats in the third quarter. Prairie was able to connect on a couple of 3’s in the fourth quarter but were still outscored 10-13. Chaffee wound up with 10 points to lead the Pirates in scoring with Spencer Schumacher adding 9. Ross scored 4, Dylan Schumacher 3, Mager 2 and Tanner Hibbard 1. Prairie had a 38-34 edge on the boards with Spencer Schumacher grabbing 13 and Ross 11. Ross had 3 steals and no one had more than 1 assist for Prairie. Prairie was 10 for 44 from the field, 23%, and 7 for 16 at the line, 44%. Lapwai was 21 for 55 from the field, 38%, and 12 for 15 at the line, 80%. Lapwai committed just 5 turnovers to 17 for the Pirates. A bit of controversy before the game saw the Lapwai students setting up in the first few rows of the Prairie section forcing the Prairie students to move to the end zone seats where the bands usually set up. Prairie 4 10 5 10 -29 Lapwai 10 13 22 13 -58 Prairie-N. Mager 1-3, 0-0, 2; Chaffee 3-11, 3-4, 10; Forsmann 0-4, 0-2, 0; Ross 2-9, 0-2, 4; S. Schumacher 3-8, 3-6, 9; D. Schumacher 1-4, 0-0, 3; Anderson 0-1, 0-0, 0; Ott 0-1, 0-0, 0; Shears 0-1, 0-0, 0; Hibbard 0-2, 1-2, 1; S. Mager 0-0, 0-0, 0; Uhlenkott 0-0, 0-0, 0. 3-pointers-Chaffee, D. Schumacher. Lapwai-Kipp 0-4, 0-0, 0; Taylor 10-21, 3-4, 24; Leighton 7-13, 4-5, 20; Sobotta 2-5, 3-4, 8; Reuben 2-7, 0-0, 4; Young 0-1, 0-0, 0; Domebo 0-0, 0-0, 0; Henry 0-2, 0-0, 0; Whitman 0-1, 2-2, 2; Wisdom 0-0, 0-0, 0. 3-pointers-Leighton 2, Taylor.  They
say it’s tough to beat a good team 3 times in a season. How about 4? Unlike
the earlier game in the tournament, Prairie came out aggressive to start
the game and took their first lead on a 3-pointer by Chaffee at the 6:31
mark of the first quarter. That was about 22 minutes earlier in the game
than the last time they played the Loggers.
Mager added a putback and Damian Forsmann scored inside for a 7-1 Prairie lead. Potlatch answered with 2 baskets to pull within 2 but Ross and Mager each scored a basket and Spencer Schumacher a free throw to give Prairie a 12-5 lead by the end of the first quarter. Potlatch scored to start the second quarter then Prairie went on a 13-0 run to take control at 25-7. Ross started it with a 15 foot jumper. Chaffee followed with a pair of free throws. Spencer Schumacher and Chaffee each scored transition lay-ups, Spencer converted a 3-point play and Forsmann converted a lay-up following a steal by Ross. Potlatch broke the run with a 3-point play by Brayden Hadaller but Chaffee answered that 6 seconds later with a 3-pointer. Spencer Schumacher made it 29-10 at the half with a free throw. We suspect Potlatch coach Ryan Ball got the attention of his squad at halftime as they came out and scored the first 9 points of the third quarter. Prairie finally broke through when Mager made a behind the back pass to Spencer Schumacher in the lane for a lay-up. Potlatch then scored 2 more baskets to trim the 19 point halftime deficit down to just 8 points at 31-23 with 2:44 left in the third quarter. Chaffee put Prairie back up by double digits with a putback and ensuing free throw and Ross added a basket to make it 36-23. Ross came through with a couple of big 3-pointers, the second from beyond NBA range to put Priarie up 42-27 with 35 seconds left in the third quarter. Potlatch got a 3-point play by DacotaHadaller, who was 4 for 4 from the field and 2 for 2 at the line in the quarter to lead the Potlatch rally. That made it 42-30 after 3 quarters. In the fourth quarter Potlatch 3 times got within 9 points but could get no closer as Prairie converted on 4 of 7 shots from the field and although struggling a bit at the line, made enough free throws to hold off the Loggers. Prairie was 7 for 14 down the stretch from the line but missed twice on the front end of 1 and 1’s. Connor Akins scored big against Prairie last time but scored just 4 points this time around. Chaffee led the Pirates in scoring with 18 points with Spencer Schumacher adding 13, Ross 11, Mager 9 and Forsmann 6. Prairie had a 29-22 edge on the boards with Spencer Schumacher grabbing 10 and Chaffee 8. Spencer Schumacher had 2 steals and 3 assists while Chaffee and Ross each had 2 steals and 2 assists. Mager and Dylan Schumacher each had 3 assists as Prairie had 13 assists on 20 made baskets. Prairie was 20 for 38 from the field, 53%, and 14 for 25 at the line, 56%. Potlatch was 19 for 42 from the field, 45%, and 6 for 9 at the line, 67%. Prairie 12 17 13 16 -58 Potlatch 5 5 20 14 -44 Prairie-Mager 3-4, 3-4, 9; Chaffee 6-10, 4-5, 18; Forsmann 2-4, 2-5, 6; Ross 5-12, 0-0, 12; S. Schumacher 4-7, 5-10, 13; D. Schumacher 0-1, 0-1, 0. 3-pointers-Chaffee 2, Ross 2. Potlatch-Judson 4-11, 0-2, 8; Akins 2-11, 0-0, 4; B. Hadaller 2-5, 1-1, 5; Thompson 2-2, 0-1, 4; D. Hadaller 8-10, 5-6, 21; Svancara 0-2, 0-0, 0; Clark 0-0, 0-0, 0; Nicholson 0-0, 0-0, 0; Morris 1-1, 0-0, 2. 3-pointers-none. 
Spencer Schumacher scored inside to open the game but Wallace tied it with 2 free throws. Prairie then finished the opening quarter with a 10-0 run. Chaffee put Prairie ahead for good with a free throw and Ross followed with a 3-pointer. Spencer Schumacher, Mager and Dylan Schumacher each added a basket to make it 12-2 at the end of the quarter. Mager scored to open the second quarter to make it 14-2. Wallace then scored 2 free throws and a basket but Prairie answered with a 9-0 run. Spencer Schumacher scored a free throw then a 3-point play. Mager scored a reverse lay-up and Chaffee sank a 3-pointer for a 23-6 lead. Wallace scored a 3-point play but Prairie then reeled off 10 straight points. Chaffee sank a 3 to start it. Dylan Schumacher and Spencer Schumacher each scored lay-ups then Spencer Schumacher drained a wide-open 3-pointer to make it 33-9. The only downside during that 19-3 run is that Ross and Forsmann each picked up their third foul. Prairie led 35-15 at the half and each team had committed just 2 turnovers in the half. Wallace came out in the third quarter with a little more urgency and quickly forced 3 turnovers from the Pirates but Prairie countered by hitting 7 of their 11 shots when they weren’t turning the ball over and Wallace could get no closer than 18 points at 42-24. Ross came up big in the third quarter hitting 4 of 5 shots including a 3 and a couple of scoop shots in the lane. Prairie took a 50-27 lead into the fourth quarter. Wallace’s Zack Welch and Erik Brackebush scored 6 and 7 points respectively in the fourth quarter but Ross countered with 7 and Prairie went 9 for 14 at the line to keep Wallace from getting any closer than 15 points. Spencer Schumacher wound up with 20 points and 12 rebounds to lead the team in both categories. He had 15 of his points in the first half. Ross added 19 points with 16 coming in the second half. Chaffee added 11 points with Mager scoring 7, Dylan Schumacher 6 and Forsmann 2. Welch led Wallace with 15 with Brackebush adding 13. Prairie had a 32-31 edge on the boards. Spencer Schumacher, Dylan Schumacher, Chaffee and Forsmann each had 1 steal as Wallace committed just 7 total turnovers in the game. Mager had 6 assists and Spencer Schumacher 5 as Prairie had 15 assists as a team on 23 made baskets. Spencer Schumacher had 3 blocked shots. Prairie was 23 for 36 from the field, 64%, and 14 for 21 at the line, 67%. Wallace was 18 for 57 from the field, 32%, and 8 for 17 at the line, 47%. Prairie takes a 20-4 record into the state tournament. Prairie 12 23 15 15 -65 Wallace 2 13 14 21 -48 Prairie-Mager 3-4, 1-2, 7; Chaffee 3-6, 3-4, 11; Forsmann 0-2, 2-2, 2; Ross 7-8, 3-4, 19; S. Schumacher 7-11, 5-8, 20; D. Schumacher 3-5, 0-1, 6; Anderson 0-0, 0-0, 0. 3-pointers-Chaffee 2, Ross 2, S. Schumacher. Wallace-Welch 7-12, 1-1, 15; Farkas 2-8, 6-10, 10; Brackebush 5-13, 1-4, 13; Gust 0-4, 0-0, 0; Bailey 1-7, 0-0, 2; Hull 1-7, 0-2, 3; Dimitroff 1-4, 0-0, 2; Stutzke 1-1, 0-0, 3; Hunter 0-1, 0-0, 0; Brantz 0-0, 0-0, 0; Neubauer 0-0, 0-0, 0. 3-pointers-Brackebush 2, Hull, Stutzke.
Damian Forsmann gets ready to shoot a lay-up against Potlatch as Dylan Schumacher trails on the play. PIRATES BOYS BASKETBALL SCHEDULE FOR 2017-18 *indicates league game 9-Troy Quad, here*, 4 & 5:30, won43-31 14-Lapwai, here*, lost 33-67 15-Grangeville, here, Idaho County Shootout, V only, 7:30 p.m., won 51-46 19-Asotin, Quad, there, 4:30, won 67-59 6-Genesee, there*, won 49-44 8-C.V., here*, won 72-24 12-Potlatch, here*, won 45-37 18-Kamiah, there*, lost 29-31 20-Troy Quad, there*, 4 & 5:30, won 63-44 23-Lapwai, there*, won 51-35 26-Orofino, there, won 49-23 29-Asotin, Quad, here, 4:30, rescheduled from Jan. 2, won 50-37 3-Genesee, here*, won 37-29 5-Moscow, there, won 55-52 8-C.V., there*, won 63-39 10-Orofino, here, won 68-16 13-District at LCSC vs. Potlatch, won 42-38 20-District Championship game vs. Lapwai, 7:30 p.m., lost 29-58 22-District 2nd Place game vs. Potlatch, 7:30 p.m., won 58-44 24-State Play-In at Post Falls vs. Wallace, 1:00 p.m., won 65-48 March 1-3-State at Caldwell, Open vs. Ambrose, 2 p.m. PST, Thursday, March 1 |
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