Prairie drops two games at state tourney

For the second consecutive year, the Prairie Falcons found the rims at the Tacoma Dome to be more than just a little unkind.

Just as it did a year ago, Prairie struggled to make shots at the Class 3A girls state basketball tournament and the result was a pair of losses that ended the Falcons season a day earlier than they would have liked.

“Every year, it’s hard to make the players understand when you’re beating people by 40, 50 points during the regular season, it’s a whole different type of girl you’re going up against when you get to the state tournament,’’ said Prairie coach Brett Johnson. “When you get to state, you’ve got the best of the best.’’

That’s essentially what Prairie experienced at this year’s state tournament. The Falcons opened the tourney on Thursday with a matchup with the defending state champions, Lynnwood, and Prairie lost 46-37.

On Friday, the Falcons faced Mt. Spokane in the consolation bracket and despite leading for much of the game, Prairie struggled down the stretch and eventually fell 58-50. Lynnwood finished third at this year’s state tournament and Mt. Spokane was fourth.

Prairie ended the season with a 21-6 record. In the loss to Lynnwood, Prairie made just 12 of its 41 shots (29.3 percent) from the field and against Mt. Spokane, the Falcons converted on just 19 of 61 shots (31.1 percent). Prairie lost both of its games at state last season and the problem in each game was also the Falcons’ inability to put the ball in the basket. In the two games a year ago, Prairie made just 27.4 percent of its 2-point attempts (17-for-62) and only 20.3 percent (14-for-69) of its 3-pointers.

Shooting is often an issue for teams playing at the state tournament. Instead of shooting at a basket and backboard with a wall behind it, the players face an entirely different environment in the spacious Tacoma Dome, which has two courts in a vast open space with no background behind the glass backboards.

“I thought it was a little bit different this year,’’ Johnson said. “We struggled to score but it came down to the girls getting tired. I think our starters just got tired. We did struggle shooting, but I don’t know what to do about that. We don’t have those kind of rims where we play at.’’

Johnson essentially stuck to a six-player rotation in both games at the state tournament. In each game, four of the five Falcons’ starters played at least 26 of the 32 minutes and in each game freshman Mallory Williams was the only player to play more than 7 minutes as a reserve off the bench.

“It boiled down to the fact that we needed to be deeper in both games,’’ Johnson said. “We were in it and then in the second half, it unraveled.’’

And, as Johnson pointed out, the Falcons were playing talented players and very good teams.

“Our players were telling us they tried to drive but these girls were so much quicker and faster than they were used to,’’ Johnson said. “They had a hard time getting around them and when they did, it was still a tough shot. We tried to move the ball around really fast but when we got an open shot it was usually a 3-pointer.’’

Thanks in large part to a 22-12 edge in the second quarter, Prairie led Mt. Spokane 31-19 at halftime of Friday’s game. The Falcons’ lead was trimmed to 41-33 at the end of the fourth quarter before Mt. Spokane outscored Prairie 25-9 in the final eight minutes.

The Falcons managed to make 40 percent (12-for-30) of their shots in the first half against Mt. Spokane but then converted on just 22.6 percent (7-for-31) in the second half.

Prairie, which established a new Class 3A tournament record with 45 attempted 3-pointers in a game last year, nearly reached that mark in the loss to Mt. Spokane. The Falcons were 10-for-43 (23.3 percent) from 3-point range in Friday’s loss.

Prairie was led in scoring by Williams, who came off the bench to score 11 points in 21 minutes of action. The 5-foot-11 post made four of her seven shots from the field, including three of her five attempts from 3-point range.

Junior guard Jozie Tangeman added 10 points for Prairie. She made four of her 10 shots from the field and also had six rebounds, two assists and two steals. Senior Cherita Daugherty had nine points, nine rebounds, three assists and three steals for the Falcons. Junior Grace Prom added eight points and five rebounds. Senior Natalie Whitesel had seven points and eight rebounds, seven of which came at the offensive end of the court.

In Thursday’s loss to Lynnwood, Prairie made 10 of its 25 3-point attempts (40 percent) but the Falcons made just two of their 16 shots inside the 3-point arc.

Prairie trailed by just two points (22-20) at halftime but was outscored by Lynnwood 24-17 in the second half.

Prom led the Falcons with nine points and Tangeman and Macey Hsu each added six points.

The Falcons will lose five seniors off this year’s team to graduation including Daugherty, the Class 3A Greater St. Helens League Player of the Year who will play at the University of Idaho next season, and fellow starters Whitesel and Hsu. But, Prairie will return starters Tangeman and Prom and four freshmen from this year’s state tournament team.

“It’s a good thing that we had four freshmen who were able to see what it is like at state and we’ve got Grace and Jozie coming back so that’s a good stabilizer right there,’’ Johnson said.