Lady Pirates earn State Berth
The Prairie Lady Pirates earned a trip to State by finishing 2nd at District this past week. On Wednesday, Feb. 10 they hosted Genesee and won 51-33. On Friday, Feb. 12, they traveled to Lapwai and lost in the District Championship game 49-54. Finally on Saturday, Feb. 13, they hosted Genesee again and won 57-36.
The opening round game against Genesee saw the game go back and forth in the first half and then Prairie dominated in the second half.
It was a streaky first half. Genesee scored first but Prairie answered with 2 baskets by Ellea Uhlenkott and 2 free throws by Madison Shears for a 6-2 lead.
Genesee answered with a 0-8 run to take a 6-10 lead. Prairie then ended the first quarter with an 8-1 run to take back the lead at 14-11 by the end of the period.
A steal by Hope Schwartz led to 2 free throws then Genesee scored a free throw. Kristin Wemhoff scored twice to put Prairie back on top and Shears closed out the quarter with a lay-up.
Shears opened the second quarter with a free throw then Genesee took back the lead with a 3-pointer and another basket.
Shears put Prairie back on top with a short bank shot and added a free throw for a 3-point play. Delanie Lockett scored a free throw to make it 19-16 with 4:26 left in the half.
Prairie then went cold on offense and Genesee scored 6 straight points to take a 19-22 lead.
Uhlenkott broke a nearly 3 minute dry spell with 2 free throws and the stole the ball and fed to Laney Forsmann for a basket to put Prairie back on top 23-22.
Genesee closed the half with a 1-4 run to take a 24-26 lead at the break.
Prairie was 0 for 9 from 3-point range in the first half but turned that around to open the second half. Within the first 1:06 of the second half Shears and Lockett each sank a 3-pointer to put Prairie up 30-26.
Genesee scored a basket and a free throw to pull back within 1 but Prairie then put together a 9-0 run. Lockett started it with a basket and Uhlenkott followed with a 3-pointer. Wemhoff then scored a pair of baskets to make it 39-29 with 1:08 left in the quarter.
Genesee broke the run with a basket but Shears closed out the quarter by putting back her own miss to make it 41-31.
Wemhoff opened the fourth quarter with a drive to the hoop for a 43-31 lead.
24 seconds later Genesee scored their only points of the fourth quarter as Prairie finished the game with an 8-0 run.
Lockett hit a 3, Wemhoff a lay-up, Shears the front end of a 1 and 1 and Wemhoff a pair of free throws as Prairie advanced to the District Championship game with an 18-point win.
Shears scored 14 points to lead the scoring while Wemhoff scored 12 and Uhlenkott 11. Lockett scored 9, Forsmann 3 and Schwartz 2.
Schlader didn’t score but had 11 rebounds, 4 steals and 3 assists to lead the team in all those categories.
Lockett added 10 rebounds as Prairie had a 43-27 advantage on the boards.
Wemhoff and Uhlenkott each had 3 steals and 3 assists.
Prairie was 16 for 43 from the field, 37%, and 13 for 26 at the line, 50%. Genesee was 11 for 45 from the field, 24%, and 10 for 14 at the line, 71%.
Prairie    14 10 17 10 -51
Genesee 11 15   5   2 -33
Prairie-Lockett 3-10, 1-2, 9; Wemhoff 5-10, 2-11, 12; Shears 4-15, 5-7, 14; Uhlenkott 4-7, 2-2, 11; Schlader 0-1, 0-0, 0; Schwartz 0-1, 2-2, 2; Forsmann 1-1, 1-2, 3; Prigge 0-0, 0-0, 0; Johnson 0-1, 0-0, 0. 3-pointers-Lockett 2, Shears, Uhlenkott.
Genesee-Ranisate 5-8, 2-4, 12; Monk 2-8, 2-2, 7; B. Leseman 0-7, 4-6, 4; Osborne 3-15, 0-0, 6; Mayer 0-4, 0-0, 0; Stout 1-3, 2-2, 4; Holmes 0-0, 0-0, 0; Lockler 0-0, 0-0, 0; Vestal 0-0, 0-0, 0; R. Leseman 0-0, 0-0, 0. 3-pointers-Monk.
The District Championship game at Lapwai followed a similar script to the previous two games against Lapwai in that Prairie would play them tough through the first 3 quarters and then see Lapwai dominate the fourth quarter.
This was Prairie’s 8th District championship game appearance in the last 9 seasons.
Uhlenkott scored the first 4 points of the game on 2 free throws and a basket. Lapwai finally got on the board at the 5:52 mark with a free throw. Wemhoff followed with a basket to make it 6-1.
Lapwai quickly cut the lead to 2 with a 3 by Grace Sobotta. Prairie answered with a lay-up off an inbounds play by Schlader and a basket by Wemhoff that resulted from a steal by Lockett.
Two Lapwai baskets against a basket by Wemhoff made it 12-8 by the end of the first quarter.
A 3 by Lapwai to open the second quarter cut the lead to 1 but baskets by Wemhoff and Uhlenkott pushed the lead back to 5 at 16-11.
Lapwai hit another 3 but Wemhoff answered with a putback.  Lapwai scored a 2-point basket but 2 free throws by Schlader and a drive to the hoop by Shears made it 22-16.
Another Lapwai 3 cut the lead in half but Lockett scored a putback, Lapwai answered with a basket and Shears made 2 free throws to give Prairie a 26-21 lead at the half.
Lapwai came out after the half and hit a 3 and then a 2 to tie the game. Wemhoff hit a free throw but Lapwai answered to tie it again at 27. A basket by Schlader and a 3-point play by Wemhoff made it 32-27 but Lapwai tied it again at 32 with their own basket followed by a 3-point play.
With 2:47 left in the third quarter Schwartz scored 2 free throws. Wemhoff scored inside with 2:05 left. Lockett sank a 3 with 1:10 left for a 39-32 lead. With the clock running down Prairie missed a couple of shots and Lapwai tried to rebound but wound up deflecting the ball to Lockett who took a second to process that “hey, I’ve got the ball” before putting up a shot at the buzzer that gave Prairie a 41-32 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
After finishing the third with a 9-0 run it looked good for the Pirates, however they didn’t score again until the final 30 seconds of the game. In the meantime Lapwai scored 18 straight points to take a 41-50 lead.
It looked like Prairie wanted to work the ball around for the perfect shot each trip down the floor and it only resulted in turnovers with Lapwai scoring on the other end.
Wemhoff finally broke the scoring drought with 26 seconds left with a putback but Lapwai answered with 2 free throws.
Just after that a foul was called on Prairie and the scoreboard had it as Shears’ fifth foul. The foul was actually on Schwartz. Shears made the second of 2 free throws with 20 seconds left.
Prairie then fouled and Lapwai made 1 of the 2 free throws.
Shears was fouled again and made both free throws with just 13 seconds left.
Another foul with Lapwai missing both free throws saw Prairie with one last possession and down 8 points. Shears put up a desperation shot from just beyond halfcourt that wound up going in at the buzzer to final the final margin 5 points.
Wemhoff had a double-double to lead the Pirates as she scored 18 points and had 13 rebounds. Shears added 10 points with Lockett scoring 7. Uhlenkott and Schlader scored 6 each and Schwartz had 2.
Prairie had a 43-23 edge on the boards. Schlader was also in double figures with 11 rebounds.
Lockett and Wemhoff each had 2 steals and Schlader had 3 assists.
Prairie was 17 for 50 from the field, 34%, and 13 for 20 at the line, 65%. Lapwai was 19 for 44 from the field, 43%, and 10 for 19 at the line, 53%.
In the fourth quarter Prairie was just 2 for 9 from the field while Lapwai was 7 for 9.
Prairie 12 14 15   8 -49
Lapwai 8 13 11 22 -54
Prairie-Lockett 3-6, 0-0, 7; Wemhoff 8-20, 2-5, 18; Shears 2-12, 5-6, 10; Uhlenkott 2-7, 2-2, 6; Schlader 2-5, 2-4, 6; Schwartz 0-1, 2-3, 2. 3-pointers-Lockett, Shears.
Lapwai-Gr. Sobotta 3-5, 4-6, 12; McCormack-Marks 5-11, 2-3, 13; Gl. Sobotta 1-6, 0-0, 2; Gould 3-10, 1-7, 7; Mitchell 3-5, 3-4, 10; Oatman 2-6, 0-0, 5; Shawl 2-2, 0-0, 5; Moliga 0-0, 0-0, 0. 3-pointers-Gr. Sobotta 2, McCormack-Marks, Mitchell, Oatman, Shawl.
After a tough loss the night before at Lapwai, the Lady Pirates recovered well as they jumped out to leads of 9-0, 15-3 and 17-4 in the first quarter on their way to another double-digit win over Genesee.
35 seconds into the game Shears sank a 3-pointer. Wemhoff followed with a putback to make it 5-0. 2 free throws by Shears and a lay-up by Wemhoff gave Prairie a 9-0 lead.
Genesee finally scored on a 3-pointer at the 3:38 mark. Prairie came right back with a 6-0 run. Uhlenkott made 2 free throws, Wemhoff scored inside and Schlader added 2 free throws to make it 15-3.
After a Genesee free throw, Lockett closed out the first quarter with a basket to make it 17-4.
Genesee had made just 1 of 12 shots from the field while Prairie was going 6 for 7 at the free throw line.
The one downside and possible hangover from the previous night was foul trouble as Wemhoff picked up her third foul with 2:12 left in the first quarter and Lockett and Shears both picked up their third fouls midway through the second quarter.
Prairie built a 25-10 lead in the second quarter with 3:51 left just after Schlader went to the bench with her third.  Genesee then had back-to-back 3’s from Isabelle Monk and a free throw from Bailey Leseman to cut the lead to 25-17.
Two free throws by Shears and a free throw by Molly Johnson pushed the lead back to 11.
Shears then followed a Genesee basket with a free throw that made it 29-19 at the half.
Genesee opened the second half with a 3 from Taylor Mayer but the Prairie took control again. Genesee scored just 2 points the rest of the third quarter. Meanwhile Uhlenkott started a 9-0 run with a drive to the hoop. A basket by Wemhoff, a 3 by Lockett and a putback by Uhlenkott made it 38-22.
After a Genesee basket at the 4:23 mark, Prairie finished the third quarter with an 8-0 run. Shears hit back-to-back 3’s and the scored on an inbounds feed from Schwartz to give Prairie a 46-29 lead after 3 quarters.
Genesee scored to open the fourth quarter but that 20 point deficit at 46-26 was as close as they would get.
Lockett scored a basket and Shears made a steal that led to a free throw. After a Genesee basket, Laney Forsmann banked in a 3-pointer for a 52-28 lead.
Genesee three times got within 21 at 52-31, 55-34 and 57-36, but Prairie answeredeach time with Forsmann making 2 of 4 at the line to finish off the scoring for a 23-point win.
Shears scored 19 points to lead Prairie with Lockett and Wemhoff each scoring 9. Forsmann had 7, Uhlenkott 6, Schlader and Schwartz 4 each and Johnson 1.
Prairie had a 48-37 margin on the boards with 6 players grabbing at least 7 boards. Lockett and Forsmann each had 8 while Wemhoff, Shears, Uhlenkott and Schlader had 7 each.
Uhlenkott had 5 steals while Shears had 3 steals and 5 assists.
Prairie was 17 for 52 from the field, 33%, and 20 for 28 at the line, 71%. Genesee was 12 for 50 from the field, 24%, and 7 for 14 at the line, 50%.
Prairie is now 20-3 on the season.
Prairie  17 12 17 13 -59
Genesee 4 15   5 12 -36
Prairie-Lockett 3-8, 2-2, 9; Wemhoff 4-9, 1-3, 9; Shears 4-13, 8-10, 19; Uhlenkott 2-6, 2-2, 6; Schlader 0-4, 4-5, 4; Schwartz 2-7, 0-0, 4; Forsmann 2-3, 2-4, 7; Johnson 0-1, 1-2, 1; Rehder 0-0, 0-0, 0; Klapprich 0-0, 0-0, 0; Prigge 0-0, 0-0, 0. 3-pointers-Shears 3, Lockett, Forsmann.
Genesee-Ranisate 2-5, 1-2, 5; Monk 3-13, 0-0, 9; B. Leseman 1-6, 3-4, 5; Osborne 5-17, 0-4, 11; Mayer 1-5, 1-2, 4; Stout 0-4, 2-2, 2; Hanson 0-0, 0-0, 0; Lockler 0, 0-0, 0; Vestal 0, 0-0, 0; R. Leseman 0-1, 0-0, 0. 3-pointers-Monk 3, Osborne, Mayer.