Pirates finish third at State
The Prairie Pirates went into the State Tournament as the #3 seed and they wound up bringing home the third place trophy. On Thursday, March 5, they defeated Murtaugh 53-36 at Vallivue High School in Caldwell. On Friday, March 6, they lost to eventual state champion Lakeside 52-57, also at Vallivue. Finally on Saturday, March 7, they defeated #4 seeded North Star Charter 43-42 to win third place at State.
In their state opener, Murtaugh took a 0-3 lead on a basket and a free throw. Prairie struggled to get on the scoreboard, scoring their first points on a free throw by Riley Shears at the 2:56 mark. 40 seconds later Shears tied it with a pair of free throws and then gave Prairie their first lead when he converted a lay-up following a steal by Patrick Schlader. Murtaugh answered with a free throw then Schlader hit from 3 for an 8-4 lead. After another Murtaugh free throw, Phil Schwartz made a free throw and then Shears hit a 3 to close out the first quarter with Prairie up 12-5.
Schlader scored twice to open the second quarter and put Prairie up 16-5. After a basket by Murtaugh, Nate Forsmann made a pair of throws. Shears added a free  throw and Schlader added 2 more for a 21-7 lead. After another Murtaugh basket, Forsmann scored a free throw to make it 22-9 with 2:30 left in the half. Neither team scored in the final 2:30 leaving that as the halftime score. Prairie had outscored Murtaugh 10-4 in the quarter with each team making 2 baskets. The difference was a 6 for 9 performance at the line by the Pirates.
Murtaugh was just 3 for 25 from the field in the first half, 12%. Prairie wasn’t a whole lot better at 5 for 20, 25%.
Prairie opened the third quarter with a 7-2 run, increasing their lead to 18 at 29-11. Forsmann scored a free throw followed by a lay-up by Schlader. After a Murtaugh basket, Shears made a free throw and Schlader hit a 3. Murtaugh then countered with a 1-7 run of their own to get back within 12 at 30-18. Forsmann had the only point for Prairie in that nearly 3 minute span. The Pirates then closed out their third quarter with a 10-0 run to take a 40-18 lead into the fourth quarter. Forsmann made 3 of 4 at the line and then scored a lay-up to make it 35-18. Shears was then able to break loose in transition for a dunk. Levi Gehring was then fouled on a 3-point attempt in the final seconds of the quarter and made all 3 free throws.
Murtaugh scored 4 straight to open the fourth quarter then Schwartz sank a 3 from the corner. After 2 more baskets by Murtaugh cut the lead to 43-26, Prairie got a lay-up from Gehring and then a free throw each from Forsmann and Shears that made it 47-26. Prairie sent in the second unit for the final 3 minutes and after a Murtaugh free throw, Kade Quintal hit a 3. Murtaugh then scored 9 straight points before a free throw by Quintal and a put back by Sam Rehder closed out the scoring.
Schlader and Forsmann each had double-doubles in the game. Schlader led the team in points with 14 and had 13 rebounds. Forsmann had 11 points and led in rebounds with 14. Shears had 13 points while Gehring had 5. Schwartz and Quintal had 4 each and Sam Rehder had 2.
Prairie dominated the boards 50-28.
Forsmann had 2 steals and Schwartz, Chase VonBargen, Shears and Gehring each had 2 assists. Schlader and Max Rehder each had 2 blocked shots.
Prairie was 13 for 42 from the field, 31%, and 22 for 33 at the line, 67%. Murtaugh was 10 for 53 from the field, 19%, and 12 for 21 at the line, 57%.
Prairie   12 10 18 13 -53
Murtaugh 5  4   9 18 -36
Prairie-Gehring 1-4, 3-3, 5; Shears 3-8, 6-10, 13; Schwartz 1-6, 1-2, 4; Schlader 5-8, 2-3, 14; Forsmann 1-4, 9-14, 11; VonBargen 0-2, 0-0, 0; M. Rehder 0-1, 0-0, 0; Quintal 1-2, 1-2, 4; Armbrust 0-1, 0-0, 0; Enneking 0-1, 0-0, 0; Riener 0-1, 0-0, 0; S. Rehder 1-4, 0-0, 2. 3-pointers-Schlader 2, Shears, Schwartz, Quintal.
Murtaugh-Widmier 3-12, 7-11, 14; M. Jensen 4-6, 1-3, 10; Aguilar 0-5, 0-0, 0; P. Stanger 0-2, 0-0, 0; Gray 2-7, 0-0, 4; Alcala 0-0, 0-0, 0; J. Stanger 0-7, 1-2, 1; Jones 0-1, 0-0, 0; Gil 0-5, 1-2, 1; Andersen 0-5, 2-2, 2; Hunsaker 0-1, 0-0 0; Roseborough 1-1, 0-1, 2; DeLeon 0-1, 2-2, 2; Medina 0-0, 0-0, 0; T. Jensen 0-0, 0-0, 0. 3-pointers-Widmier, M. Jensen.
Prairie met a familiar foe in Lakeside in the semifinals. This was the third time the Pirates had faced the eventual state champions this season and this was their best effort against the Knights.
Prairie started strong as Gehring hit a basket to open the scoring. After Lakeside tied it, Schlader hit a 3 for a 5-2 lead. Lakeside tied it with a 3 and Shears answered with a putback. After Lakeside tied it again at 8, Shears and Gehring each made a free throw and Shears scored following a steal by Schlader for an 11-7 lead. A 3 by Lakeside cut the lead to 1 then Shears hit a 3 to make it 14-10. Lakeside scored a basket that cut the lead to 14-12 at the end of the first quarter.
Lakeside tied it with a basket to open the second quarter then Gehring hit a 3 to put Prairie back on top. Lakeside then came back with a pair of baskets to take their first lead of the game at 17-18. Schlader scored to put Prairie back on top but Lakeside countered with a basket. VonBargen then hit a 3 to make it 22-20. Lakeside then scored 6 straight to take their biggest lead so far at 22-26. Prairie came right back with their own 6-0 run to retake the lead. Schlader scored 2 free throws, Schwartz hit a 3 and Forsmann added a free throw to make it 28-26. Lakeside tied it with 2 free throws but Forsmann put Prairie back on top with a lay-up. Lakeside then scored a free throw and took the lead at the half with a 3-pointer at the buzzer following a Prairie turnover. Lakeside led 30-32 at the break.
Schlader put Prairie back on top to open the third quarter with a 3-point play. Lakeside countered with a lay-up followed by a 3. Schlader hit a 3 to cut the deficit to 1. Shears followed with a lay-up following a steal by Forsmann. Schlader then hit another 3 for a 41-37 lead. After 2 Lakeside free throws, Prairie took their biggest lead of the game on a lay-up by Forsmann and a putback by Schlader that made it 45-39 with 2:54 left in the third quarter. After a lay-up by Lakeside, Schlader scored to again put Prairie up by 6 at 47-41 with 1:03 left in the third.
From that point on Lakeside took control. They closed the third quarter with 5 straight to cut the lead to 47-46. Lakeside then opened the fourth quarter with 2 free throws and a basket for a 47-50 lead. Forsmann made 2 free throws to cut the lead to 1. Lakeside countered with a 3-point play. Schwartz hit a 3 to cut the lead to 52-53 with 49 seconds left. Lakeside made a lay-up to take a 52-55 lead with 26 seconds left. Prairie tried to set up a tying 3 but wound up turning the ball over and Lakeside got a final lay-up just before the buzzer.
Schlader wound up with 20 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Pirates. Shears added 10 points after getting shut out in both of the Lakeside games during the season. Forsmann scored 7 while Gehring and Schwartz scored 6 each and VonBargen scored 3.
Prairie had a 30-25 edge on the boards.
Schlader had 3 steals and Schwartz and Forsmann each had 4 assists.
Prairie was 18 for 47 from the field, 38%, and 8 for 11 at the line, 89%. Lakeside was 22 for 46 from the field, 48%, and 11 for 17 at the line, 65%.
Prairie was a solid 17 for 37 from the field, 46%, after 3 quarters but were just 1 for 10 in the fourth.
Lakeside went on to beat Kendrick 60-47 in the championship game.
Prairie     14 16 17 5 -52
Lakeside 12 20 14 9 -57
Prairie-Gehring 2-6, 1-2, 6; Shears 4-13, 1-2, 10; Schwartz 2-5, 0-0, 6; Schlader 7-14, 3-3, 20; Forsmann 2-6, 3-4, 7; VonBargen 1-3, 0-0, 3. 3-pointers-Schlader 3, Schwartz 2, Shears, VonBargen.
Lakeside-Peone 5-13, 4-6, 15; Louie 1-5, 0-0, 3; Brown 6-9, 0-0, 13; Charley 6-13, 7-8, 19; Pluff 2-3, 0-1, 5; Ramirez 2-3, 0-2, 4; GreenSky 0-1, 0-0, 0. 3-pointers-Peone, Brown, Pluff.
In the third place game against North Star Charter, Prairie led for the entire first 3 quarters. The Pirates then had to survive a rally by the Huskies in the fourth quarter.
The Pirates took a 4-0 lead on a lay-up each by Schlader and Shears. North Star scored their first points at the 4:56 mark. Forsmann followed with a basket and a free throw for a 7-2 lead. After a 3 by North Star, Forsmann scored a lay-up. North Star converted a 3-point play to pull within 1 at 9-8. Shears then scored on a lay-up at the buzzer for an 11-8 lead.
North Star tied the game with a 3 but Prairie responded with a 7-0 run. Schlader scored a lay-up. Shears made 2 free throws and then Max Rehder hit a 3 from the corner to make it 18-11. North Star broke the run with a 3 but Forsmann answered with a lay-up. After a putback by North Star, Prairie answered with a pair of free throws by Schlader. Schlader got a second chance at the second free throw when North Star was called for a lane violation. A small thing at the time but it turned out to be the winning point. Forsmann then scored a lay-up to make it 24-16 at the half.
North Star opened the second half scoring but Schlader answered. After another North Star basket, Schlader and Forsmann each made 1 of 2 at the line for a 28-20 lead. North Star made a 3 and Prairie answered with a free throw by Shears. Another 3 by North Star but the lead to 3 at 29-26. Schlader then hit a 3 to push the lead back to 6 and added a free throw with 0.4 seconds left as Prairie took a 33-26 lead into the fourth quarter.
North Star came out in the fourth with a 0-10 run that game them their first lead of the game at 33-36. They had a basket, two 3’s and another basket. Forsmann broke the run with a lay-up at the 5:50 mark. Schlader then hit a fall-way that put Prairie back on top by 1. North Star scored to take the lead back but Schlader answered with a putback with 4:06 left. 30 seconds later North Star scored to retake the lead. At the 2:10 mark Forsmann scored a putback for a 41-40 Prairie lead. North Star scored on an inbounds play with 1:50 left to take their final lead of the game at 41-42. 20 seconds later, Schlader scored on a feed from Forsmann to put Prairie back on top at 43-42 with 1:30 to play.
Both teams had chances in the final 90 seconds. North Star’s last chance came when they had the ball out of bounds with about 12 seconds left. Prairie had just 1 team foul in the quarter at that point and 3 times they fouled North Star once the ball got inbounded to eat up some seconds off the clock as well as make them inbound the ball again. North Star finally inbounded with about 7 seconds left. Shears nearly stole the ball under the basket and threw the ball back out. North Star wound up with it and put up a 3 point shot that hit the back iron and Schwartz rebounded for the win.
Schlader had his third double-double of the tournament with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Forsmann was also in double figures in scoring with 14 points and almost had a double-double with 9 rebounds. Shears scored 7 and Max Rehder scored 3.
Rebounding was dead even at 33 each.
Gehring had 5 steals and Forsmann had 4 assists and 2 blocked shots.
Prairie was 16 for 48 from the field, 33%, and 9 for 14 at the line, 64%. North Star was 18 for 48 from the field, 38%, and 1 for 3 at the line, 33%. Prairie had just 10 fouls called on them and 3 of those were in the final 10 seconds.
The Pirates end their season with a record of 20-7 and their first state tournament trophy since 2019.
Prairie      11 13   9 10 -43
North Star 8   8 10 16 -42
Prairie-Gehring 0-2, 0-0, 0; Shears 2-12, 3-4, 7; Schwartz 0-2, 0-0, 0; Schlader 7-18, 4-6, 19; Forsmann 6-12, 2-4, 14; VonBargen 0-1, 0-0, 0; M. Rehder 1-1, 0-0, 3. 3-pointers-Schlader, M. Rehder.
North Star Charter-Hammons 0-1, 0-0, 0; Shannon 3-7, 0-0, 9; Baros 3-7, 0-0, 7; Ellis 5-15, 1-3, 11; Cougher 4-12, 0-0, 9; McReynolds 1-1, 0-0, 3; Horning 2-5, 0-0, 6; Hauch 0-0, 0-0, 0. 3-pointers-Shannon 3, Horning 2, Baros, Cougher.

JV games start at 6 p.m., varsity to follow unless indicated
*indicates league game
  1-Orofino, here, lost 43-46
  5-Grangeville, there, 7:30, Idaho County Shootout , won 67-38
  8-Deary, there, won 56-23
10-JV at Clarkston JV, 6:30 p.m.
12-Troy*, here, won 75-18
18-Kamiah*, here, won 65-32
  6-Orofino, there, lost 45-54
  8-Deary, here, won 55-31
10-Potlatch*, there, C-JV-V, 1 p.m., won 67-51
13-Lapwai*, here, C-JV-V, 4:30 p.m., won 63-36
15-C vs. Clarkston, 4:30 p.m.
15-Logos*, here, won 48-29
16-Kendrick*, Quad, here, 5 p.m., lost 47-60
23-Lakeside, there, V only, 6 p.m., lost 53-68
24-Troy*, there, 1 & 2:30 p.m.  won 62-24
28-Kamiah*, there, won 47-38
29-Logos*, there, won 67-48
  3-Lapwai*, there, C-JV-V, 4:30 p.m., won 60-41
  5-Lakeside, here, V only, 6 p.m. , JV vs. Kendrick, 4:30 p.m., lost 36-62
  6-Kendrick*, there, C-JV-V, 4:30 p.m., won 53-49
12-Grangeville, here, C-JV-V, 4:30 p.m.-date changed, won 69-30
13-Potlatch*, here, Senior Night, C-JV-V, 4:30 p.m., won 50-37
21-District at Lewiston High 4:30 p.m. against Potlatch. won 58-47
25-District Championship vs. Kendrick, lost 41-64
26-District 2nd Place game vs. Lapwai, 6 p.m., won 59-53
28-State Play-In at McCall-Donnelly, 3 p.m. MST, defeated Compass Charter 70-43
March 5-7-State at Vallivue High, Caldwell, Open against Murtaugh at 5 p.m. MST, Thursday, March 5, defeated Murtaugh 53-36, lost to Lakeside 52-57, defeated North Star Charter 43-42.
 

16-C.V., there, 4:30 p.m.
17-Pomeroy, there, 4 p.m.
20-Kendrick, there, 5 p.m.
24-Genesee, there, 4:30 p.m.
26-Lapwai at Clearwater Park, 4:30 p.m.

  7-Nezperce, there, 4:30 p.m.
  8-Kendrick, here, 4:30 p.m.
10-11-Glenns Ferry Tournament-vs. North Fremont 10:45 a.m. Friday; vs. Lighthouse Christian at Wendell, 3:15 p.m, Friday.; vs. Notus at Wendell, 12:30 p.m., Saturday; vs. West Jefferson, 5 p.m., Saturday
13-Nezperce, here, 430 p.m.
16-Potlatch, there, V & JV, 4 p.m.
18-Troy (2) at Lewiston, 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.
24-Genesee, here, 4:30 p.m.
25-Potlatch, here, V & JV, 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.
27-Lapwai, here, 4:30 p.m.
28-C.V., here, 4:30 p.m.
30-District play-in, #6 at #3 and #5 at #4.

1-2-District at Orofino
8-9-State Play-Ins (best 2 of 3) at higher seed
14-16-State at Lewiston