Pirates win 3 league games
The Prairie Pirates won 3 league games this past week, all at Cottonwood. On Tuesday, Jan. 26, they beat Troy 72-22. On Thursday, Jan. 28, they beat C.V. 58-23. Finally, on Friday, Jan. 29 they beat Potlatch 57-24.
The game against Troy was originally scheduled for Jan. 9 but got rescheduled due to Covid-19 protocols at Troy.
The game was a mismatch from the start as Prairie jumped out to leads of 6-0 and 8-2 and led 16-5 at the end of the first quarter. Cole Schlader and Wyatt Ross each scored 4 points in the opening quarter with Brody Hasselstrom making a 3-poointer and Zach Rambo ad Lane Schumacher each adding 2 points.
Prairie kept adding to their lead in the second quarter as they outscored the Trojans 16-9 with Rambo adding 8 points while hitting 4 of 4 at the free throw line. Schlader scored 4 and Kyle Schwartz and Shane Hanson added 2 each as Prairie took a 31-15 halftime lead.
Prairie finished the third quarter with a 23-0 scoring run as they took a 57-20 lead into the fourth quarter.
Schlader scored 7, Schumacher 6, Ross 5 and Rambo and Hasselstrom 4 each in the quarter.
Prairie was 8 for 8 as a team at the free throw line and wound up an amazing 16 for 16 at the line for the game, something we have never seen from a Prairie team with that many free throws attempted.
The fourth quarter was played with a running clock but Prairie continued to score at will rolling up a 15-2 advantage in the final frame.
The Pirates had 4 players score in double figures led by Rambo with 19 points. Schlader scored 15 and Ross and Hasselstrom scored 12 each. Schumacher scored 8 while Schwartz, Hanson and Lee Forsmann scored 2 each.
Prairie also dominated on the boards 38-23 with Schlader and Ross each collecting 8 rebounds to lead the team.
Schlader had 4 steals and 3 assists while Schwartz also had 3 assists.
Prairie was 25 for 60 from the field, 42%, and the aforementioned 16 for 16 at the line, 100%. Troy was 9 for 34 from the field, 26%, and 2 for 3 at the line, 67%.
The JV game was just as lopsided and although Troy outscored Prairie 9-14 in the running clock fourth quarter, Prairie still won 63-31.
Troy never led in the game as Colton McElroy opened the scoring with a putback. Troy tied the score but Prairie took the lead for good on a shot from the elbow by Lee Forsmann. After a Troy free throw cut the lead to 1, Prairie outscored Troy 16-2 the rest of the first quarter for a 20-5 lead.
They then scored the first 12 points of the second quarter to complete a 20-0 scoring run. Prairie led 40-13 at the half.
Shane Hanson scored 8 points in the second quarter and had 12 in the half. Forsmann scored 6 in each of the first 2 quarters and also had 12 points in the first half. Neither played much in the second half.
Weston Riener opened the third quarter scoring then Troy scored 4 straight points. Prairie then finished the quarter with a 12-0 scoring run. Levi Walsh and Morgan Poxleitner each scored 4 in that run while Riener and Colton McElroy scored 2 each. Prairie led 54-17 after 3 quarters.
It was pretty much the C team that played the fourth quarter for the Pirates with Benny Elven scoring 4 while Alex McElroy made a 3-pointer and Trenton Lorentz add a basket.
Prairie led 61-22 after McElroy’s 3 but were outscored 2-9 the rest of the way.
Hanson and Forsmann led the scoring with 12 points each. Riener scored 9, Poxleitner 6, Walsh 5, Travis Alfrey, Colton McElroy and Elven 4 each, Alex McElroy 3 and Noah Behler and Lorentz 2 each.
Prairie had a 37-23 advantage on the boards led by Forsmann and Poxleitner with 6 each.
Alfrey and Forsmann each had 3 steals and Colton McElroy had 5 assists.
The JV’s were 26 for 52 from the field, 50%, and 9 for 12 at the line, 75%. Troy was 12 for 43 from the field, 28%, and 4 for 6 at the line, 67%.
Prairie 15 16 26 15 -72
Troy     6   9   5   2 -22
Prairie-Schlader 5-11, 4-4, 15; Ross 5-8, 1-1, 12; Rambo 4-13, 10-10; Schumacher 3-6, 1-1, 8; Wemhoff 0-3, 0-0, 0; Hasselstrom 5-8, 0-0, 12; Schwartz 1-5, 0-0, 2; Hanson 1-1, 0-0, 2; Alfrey 0-2, 0-0, 0; Forsmann 1-3, 0-0, 2. 3-pointers-Hasselstrom 2, Schlader, Ross, Rambo, Schumacher.
Troy-Johnson 4-7, 1-2, 9; Codr 2-7, 0-0, 6; Blazzard 3-7, 0-0, 6; Demeerleer 0-2, 0-0, 0; Baier 0-3, 0-0, 0; Phillis 0-3, 1-2, 1; Buchanan 0-2, 0-0, 0; Stoner 0-1, 0-0, 0; Van Pelt 0-1, 0-0, 0; McCully 0-0, 0-0, 0; Archibald 0-1, 0-0, 0. 3-pointers-Codr 2.
Clearwater Valley kept the game close in the first quarter against the Pirates but Prairie opened the second quarter with an 14-0 run and outscored the Rams 24-2 in the quarter to blow the game open.
Priarie scored first in the game on a short jump shot by Schlader but C.V. answered with a pair of baskets to take their only lead of the game.
A basket by Schumacher tied it and Prairie took the lead for good on 2 free throws by Hasselstrom. Schlader added 2 free throws and Ross a 3-pointer for an 11-4 lead.
C.V. closed out the first quarter with a 3-pointer of their own to cut the lead to 4 points, 11-7.
Schlader made 6 straight free throws to open the second quarter scoring and give Prairie a 10-point lead. Hasselstrom scored then Rambo converted a 3-point play. Schlader closed out the 14-0 run with a 3-pointer for a 25-7 lead.
After C.V. scored their only points of the quarter, Hasselstrom hit a 3 and then 2 free throws. Wemhoff scored a basket and Schumacher closed out the first half with a 3-pointer as Prairie took a 35-9 halftime lead.
Ross opened the second half scoring with a drive to the hoop. C.V. then put their only real rally of the game together as they outscored Prairie 5-9 over the next 3:30. A 3 by Wemhoff and a lay-up by Schlader were Prairie’s points while C.V. had two 3’s, a basket and a free throw. However they still trailed 18-42.
Prairie then put together an 11-3 run to push the lead to 32 at 53-21. Schlader made a pair of free throws which made it 33 straight made free throws for the Pirates. They made their final 2 against Genesee, 16 straight against Troy and their first 15 against C.V. The string broke at the 40 second mark of the third quarter when Hanson was unable to complete a 3-point play.
C.V. scored a basket to make it 53-23 after 3 quarters, invoking the running clock mercy rule for the fourth quarter.
Prairie outscored C.V. 5-0 in the final quarter.
Schlader wound up with 24 points to lead the Pirates. He was 11 for 12 at the line, missing his final attempt and breaking a personal string of 15 straight. Hasselstrom scored 7, Ross and Wemhoff 5 each, Hanson 4, Rambo 3 and Schwartz 2.
C.V. held a 24-28 edge on the boards with Schlader leading the Pirates with 9 rebounds.
Wemhoff, Schumacher and Schlader each had 3 steals and Schlader had 4 assists.
Prairie was 18 for 36 from the field, 50%, and 16 for 22 at the line, 74%. C.V. was 9 for 38 from the field, 24%, and 1 for 10 at the line, 10%.
There was no JV game but the C team had a game and beat the Grangeville C team  42-40.
Prairie 11 24 18 5 -58
C.V.     7   2 14 0 -23
Prairie-Schlader 6-10, 11-12, 24; Ross 2-3, 0-0, 5; Rambo 1-5, 1-1, 3; Schumacher 3-5, 0-0, 8; Wemhoff 2-3, 0-0, 5; Hasselstrom 1-6, 4-4, 7; Schwartz 1-1, 0-0, 2; Hanson 2-2, 0-5, 4; Alfrey 0-0, 0-0, 0; Forsmann 0-0, 0-0, 0. 3-pointers-Schumacher 2, Schlader, Ross, Wemhoff, Hasselstrom.
C.V.-Jackson 2, 0-0, 4; Olsen 0, 0-0, 0; Kolb 1, 0-0, 3; Lat. Schlieper 1, 1-8, 3; Willis 0, 0-0, 0; Curtis 0, 0-0, 0; Lan. Schlieper 4, 0-0, 11; Fox 0, 0-0, 0; Amerman 0, 0-0, 0; Anderson 1, 0-0, 2. 3-pointers-Lan. Schlieper 3, Kolb.
In the game against Potlatch, the Loggers kept the game close throughout the first half but Prairie broke it open with an 18-4 third quarter.
Prairie jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the game as Schumacher made a pair of baskets and Schlader a pair of free throws. Potlatch got on the board with a 3-point play but Wemhoff answered with a 3-pointer. Schlader followed with abasket at the 3:10 mark then Prairie went ice-cold, not scoring for the rest of the quarter. Potlatch didn’t score either though until hitting a 3-pointer at the buzzer to make it 11-6.
Potlatch scored the first 2 baskets of the second quarter to cut the Priarie lead to 11-10. Schlader then broke a 6-minute scoring drought with a basket after Wemhoff had made a steal. Schlader then made a free throw but Potlatch answered with a 3-pointer to again pull within 1 point at 14-13 with 2:53 left in the half.
Neither team scored until Schumacher made a steal and drove in for a lay-up with 1:10 left in the half. Schlader added a free throw and Ross drove in for a lay-up to make it 19-13 at the half.
Rambo, who was shut out in the first half, had a big third quarter and got the scoring started with a layup. Potlatch answered but Rambo and Wemhoff each scored to make it 25-15. After another Potlatch basket, Prairie closed the third quarter with a 12-0 run to finally put some distance between them and the Loggers. Rambo started the run with a drive to the hoop. Wemhoff and Schumacher each scored a 3-pointer and then Rambo scored a basket and a pair of free throws to give Prairie a 37-17 lead. Rambo had scored 1q of Prairie’s 18 third quarter points. Schlader, who had 8 first half points, became a facilitator in the third quarter as he didn’t score but picked up 3 assists.
Rambo opened the fourth quarter with a basket on a feed from Schlader to make it 39-17.
Potlatch scored a basket and 2 free throws then Prairie went on a 14-0 run to put the game away and invoke the running clock mercy rule. Rambo started the run with a lay-up. Ross scored after making a steal. Schwartz sank a 3-pointer. Schlader scored a pair of baskets, Rambo hit a free throw and then scored  a lay-up after making a steal to make it 53-21 with 3:37 to play. Rambo’s missed free throw ended a streak of 17 in a row he had made dating back to the Genesee game.
Potlatch broke the run with a 3-point play but Wemhoff and Travis Alfrey each scored to give Prairie a 57-24 win.
Rambo had 17 points to lead the scoring with Schlader adding 12 points and 10 rebounds. Wemhoff scored 10, Schumacher 9, Ross 4, Schwartz 3 and Alfrey 2.
Prairie had a 23-22 edge on the boards led by Schlader’s 10.
Schumacher had 5 steals while Wemhoff had 4 and Schlader and Schwartz had 3 each. Schlader had 7 assists.
The Pirates were 24 for 50 from the field, 48%, and 5 for 14 at the line, 36%. Potlatch was 9 for 21 from the field, 43%, and 4 for 5 at the line, 80%.
Prairie is now 12-3 overall and 8-2 in league play.
Again, there was no JV game.
Prairie     11 8 18 20 -57
Potlatch    6 7   4   7 -24
Prairie-Schlader 4-8, 2-5, 12; Ross 2-3, 0-0, 4; Rambo 7-11, 4-5, 17; Schumacher 4-6, 0-1, 9; Wemhoff 4-10, 0-0, 10; Hasselstrom 0-4, 0-0, 0; Hanson 0-3, 0-3, 0; Schwartz 1-3, 0-0, 3; Alfrey 1-2, 0-0, 2. 3-pointers-Wemhoff 2, Schumacher, Schwartz.
Potlatch-Brown 1-4, 1-1, 3; Vowels 0-3, 0-0, 0; Howard 3-5, 0-0, 8; McManus 2-3, 0-1, 4; Barnes 1-3, 2-2, 4; Clark 1-1, 1-1, 3; Lusby 1-2, 0-0, 2. 3-pointers-Howard 2.