Pirates are 1-1 on the week
The Prairie boys basketball team split their first two games of 2021 losing a non-league game at home to Grangeville 58-59 on Tuesday, Jan. 5 and then winning a non-league home game against Timberline 73-44 on Friday, Jan. 8.
They were to play a league game against Troy at Cottonwood on Saturday, Jan. 9, but that game got postponed to Tuesday, Jan. 26 due to a positive Covid test on the Troy boys team.
Prairie fought from behind nearly the whole game against Grangeville and came up just 1 point short of a season sweep against the Bulldogs.
In the game at Grangeville last month Grangeville took a big lead early only to see Prairie come from behind and win going away. That was in large part due to a 29 point performance by Cole Schlader. This time around Grangeville tried to limit Schlader by having their top defender stick close to Schlader the whole game.
Schlader beat the strategy early on for a pair of baskets but then open looks got increasingly harder to find, forcing other Pirates to have to step up their game.
Zach Rambo scored Prairie’s first 3 points on a free throw and a drive along the baseline for a lay-up. Schlader then gave Prairie their first lead at 5-4 when he took a defensive rebound and drove the length of the court for a lay-up.
Grangeville however scored the next 6 points and held the lead until late in the first half.
Schlader countered with a pull-up jumper and then added 2 free throws to cut the lead to 1 at 9-10.
After a Grangeville basket, Rambo scored on a drive to the hoop to again cut the lead to 1.
Grangeville then scored 5 straight to take an 11-17 lead into the second quarter.
Grangeville led 15-22 in the second quarter with 5:40 left when Prairie put a rally together.
Rambo drove into the lane for a short shot. Schlader then drove in for a lay-up. Lane Schumacher then stole the ball and drove the court for a lay-up to cut the lead to 21-22 with 2:05 left in the half.
Grangeville scored to break the run but Rambo then scored on a drive to the hoop and Tyler Wemhoff gave Prairie a 25-24 lead at the half when he took a defensive rebound and drove the length of the court for a basket with 16 seconds left.
Prairie took their biggest lead of the game when Schlader scored to open the second half. Grangeville answered with a basket and then a 3-pointer to retake the lead.
Schumacher tied it at 29 but a 0-6 run by Grangeville put the Bulldogs ahead for good.
Grangeville led 34-42 at the end of the third quarter and scored the first 5 points of the fourth quarter to take a 13 point lead at 34-47.
Rambo sank a 3-pointer and then scored inside to cut the lead to 8. 2 free throws by Brody Hasselstrom cut the deficit to 6 at 41-47.
A 3-point play by Grangeville pushed the lead back to 9 with 4:59 to play.
Rambo connected on a 1-hander then Wemhoff scored on a bank shot. Hasselstrom scored on a full court drive and after Wyatt Ross rebounded a missed front end of a 1 and 1 by Grangeville, Wemhoff scored again to pull the Pirates within 1 at 49-50 with 3:23 left.
The rally stalled and Grangeville scored 8 straight points to take a 49-58 lead with just 35 seconds to play.
8 seconds later, Hasselstrom sank a 3-pointer. After a Grangeville turnover on a jump ball forced by Wemhoff, Schumacher hit a 3 with 13 seconds left.
Grangeville, no in the double bonus, sank the second of 2 free throws for a 4-point lead with 10 seconds left and for all intents and purposes gave Grangeville the win. Schumacher hit another 3 at the buzzer to make the final margin just 1 point.
Rambo wound up leading the Pirates in scoring with 18 points. Hasselstrom scored 12 while Schlader and Schumacher scored 10 each and Wemhoff scored 8.
Grangeville had a 41-48 edge on the boards. Schlader had 13 to lead Prairie while Wemhoff had 10 rebounds.
Schumacher had 4 steals and 2 assists to lead in both categories.
The Pirates were 24 for 70 from the field, 34%, and 5 for 8 at the line, 63%. Grangeville was 24 for 63 from the field, 38%, and 6 for 15 at the line, 40%.
Prairie won the JV game 72-46 as Lee Forsmann and Shane Hanson each had over 20 points and 20 rebounds in the game.
Forsmann did most of his damage in the first half while Hanson took over in the second half.
Prairie raced out to a 19-0 lead as Forsmann scored 6, Travis Alfrey scored 5 and Hanson and Colton McElroy scored 4 points each. Alfrey added another first quarter basket as Prairie led 21-4 at the end of the period.
Forsmann then scored 16 of Prairie’s 18 second quarter points as the Pirates took a 39-24 halftime lead.
Forsmann had 22 points and 14 rebounds in the first half alone. He was 8 for 11 from the field, including a 3-pointer, and 5 for 8 at the line.
Forsmann then scored the first basket of the second half then saw Hanson take the scoring load.
Hanson scored 13 of Prairie’s 20 third quarter points as the Pirates took a 59-33 lead into the final period. Weston Riener added a 3-pointer and Alfrey had a basket.
Riener added a 3-pointer and a 2-pointer in the fourth quarter while Hanson and McElroy scored 4 points each as the Pirates held off the Bulldogs for a 26 point victory.
Forsmann wound up with 24 points and 22 rebounds while Hanson had 21 points and 21 rebounds. Alfrey scored 9 points while McElroy and Riener added 8 each and Levi Walsh scored 2.
As you can imagine, Prairie dominated the boards 64-25.
Alfrey had 3 steals and 5 assists to lead the team.
The JV’s were 31 for 71 from the field, 44%, and 7 for 14 at the line, 50%. Grangeville was 15 for 59 from the field, 25%, and 5 for 7 at the line, 71%.
Prairie        11 14  9 24 -58
Grangeville 17  7 18 17 -59
Prairie-Schlader 4-15, 2-2, 10; Ross 0-2, 0-0, 0; Rambo 8-16, 1-4, 18; Schumacher 4-13, 0-0, 10; Wemhoff 4-10, 0-0, 8; Schwartz 0-4, 0-0, 0; Hasselstrom 4-10, 2-2, 12. 3-pointers-Schumacher 2, Hasselstrom 2, Rambo.
Grangeville-Lefebvre 6-19, 3-5, 17; School 4-8, 0-1, 8; Ebert 3-10, 3-9, 10; J. Lindsley 3-11, 0-0, 8; Frei 4-7, 0-0, 8; D. Lindsley 3-6, 0-0, 6; Wimer 1-2, 0-0, 2. 3-pointers-Lefebvre 2, J. Lindsley 2, Ebert.
The game against Timberline was a lot more lopsided in Prairie’s favor than the first meeting.
Last time Timberline came out on fire from 3-point range and took an early lead. This time they scored first on a 3-pointer but Prairie then scored 18 unanswered points.
Schumacher got Prairie on the board with a lay-up and Hasselstrom tied it with a free throw. Rambo then put Prairie ahead with a 3-pointer. Next came baskets from Schumacher, Schlader, Wemhoff, Schumacher, Schlader and Schumacher again for an 18-3 lead.
After a Timberline basket, Ross closed out the first quarter scoring with a putback to make it 20-5.
Timberline scored first in the second quarter but then it was a 19-2 run by the Pirates as they raced to a 39-9 lead.
Schlader started it with a 3-point play. Schumacher scored a transition lay-up. Schlader made a free throw for a 26-7 lead. After Timberline scored a basket, Hasselstrom answered with a 3. Next came a steal and drive for Schlader, a lay-up for Lee Forsmann, another 3 by Hasselstrom, a free by Rambo and then a drive to the hoop by Rambo to make it 39-9.
Prairie led 45-16 at the half.
Timberline put together a 2-9 run to start the second half and cut the lead to 22 at 47-25, but Prairie then responded with a basket each by Schlader, Wemhoff and Rambo to make it 53-25.
The two teams traded baskets the rest of the quarter with Prairie taking a 57-31 lead into the fourth.
Hasselstrom started the fourth quarter scoring with Timberline answering. A putback each by Rambo and Shane Hanson then gave Prairie a 63-33 lead to start the running clock for the rest of the game.
Timberline converted a 3-point play but a free throw and a basket by Schumacher and a 3 by Hasselstrom put Prairie up 69-36 with 5:14 to play. That was Prairie’s biggest lead of the game.
Timberline outscored Prairie 4-8 the rest of the way to get the final margin under 30.
Prairie had 4 players in double figures led by Schumacher with 19 points. Rambo had 16 and Hasselstrom had 12. Schlader nearly had a triple-double with 14 points, 14 rebounds and 8 steals. He also had 6 assists. Wemhoff scored 4 points while Ross, Forsmann, Hanson and Travis Alfrey each scored 2.
Prairie had a 33-31 edge on the boards.
The Pirates hit 31 of 68 shots from the field, 46%, and 7 of 17 free throws, 41%. Timberline was 20 for 46 from the field, 43%, and 2 for 6 at the line, 33%.
Timberline had 2 technical fouls in the game. One was for a wrong uniform number and the other was on the Timberline coach.
Prairie is now 6-2 on the season and 2-1 in league play.
The JV team also had an easy time of it with the Spartans with a 62-29 win.
Prairie jumped out to an 11-0 lead and led 15-2 at the end of the first quarter. Riener had 6 points in the quarter while Hanson had 4.
Prairie led 27-6 at one point in the second quarter as Alfrey scored 5 points in a 12-4 run to open the quarter.
Timberline sank a couple of 3’s in the final 2 minutes of the half but still trailed 33-14 at the break.
Forsmann had 6 points and Colton McElroy 5 in the quarter.
Prairie outscored the Spartans 21-5 in the third quarter as 4 different players scored 4 points: Hanson, Colton McElroy, Forsman and Trenton Lorentz. Ben Elven added 3 and Ryan Wemhoff 2.
The C team players saw most of the fourth quarter action with the running clock as Alex McElroy scored 6 of Prairie’s 8 fourth quarter points with Dylan Forsmann scoring the other 2.
Lee Forsmann and Colton McElroy led the scoring with 11 points each. Hanson scored 8. Riener and Alex McElroy scored 6 each while Alfrey scored 5, Lorentz 4, Elven 3 and Noah Behler, Walsh, Wemhoff and Dylan Forsmann scored 2 each.
Prairie had a 50-26 advantage on the boards led by Lee Forsmann with 10 rebounds.
Behler and Lorentz each had 3 steals and Alfrey had 4 assists.
The JV’s were 25 for 66 from the field, 38%, and 10 for 20 at the line, 50%. Timberline was 12 for 42 from the field, 29%, and 0 for 2 at the line.
Prairie     20 25 12 16 -73
Timberline 5 11 15 13 -44
Prairie-Schlader 6-17, 2-5, 14; Rambo 7-12, 1-4, 16; Schumacher 8-14, 3-4, 19; Wemhoff 2-6, 0-1, 4; Hasselstrom 4-14, 1-3, 12; Ross 1-2, 0-0, 2; Forsmann 1-1, 0-0, 2; Alfrey 1-1, 0-0, 2; Hanson 1-1, 0-0, 2. 3-pointers-Hasselstrom 3, Rambo.
Timberline-Larson 7-10, 1-1, 16; Nelson 3-3, 0-0, 7; C. Hunter 2-10, 0-1, 5; Wentland 3-8, 0-0, 6; Christopherson 3-7, 1-4, 7; Brown 0-2, 0-0, 0; L. Hunter 0-1, 0-0, 0; Cram 1-3, 0-0, 3; Stewart 0-1, 0-0, 0. 3-pointers-Larson, C. Hunter, Cram.