Prairie returns to state tourney

The members of Prairie High School’s girls basketball team likely didn’t need a reminder of how much it hurt to finish last season one game away from the Tacoma Dome and the final eight round of the Class 3A state tournament but they go one anyway.

At halftime of their regional tournament game with Juanita Saturday night at Bothell High School, the Falcons got some appreciated encouragement from former teammate Nicole Goecke.

“She came up to me before the game and I was all surprised and happy,’’ said Prairie coach Brett Johnson of Goecke, who now runs track for Oregon State University. “She gave me a hug at halftime and she said, ‘Where are the girls?’ I said, ‘They’re back there. You going to go give them a pep talk?’’’

That’s exactly what Goecke did.

“Her message to the girls was last year we fell short, this year we’ve got the lead at halftime and we’re to take off on that and we’re going to do it this year,’’ Johnson said of Goecke’s message to the team. “She reminded them that last year wasn’t a good feeling and we don’t want to feel that again.’’

The Falcons didn’t feel that horrible feeling again. Instead, as Juanita’s desperation shot missed and the buzzer sounded it was Prairie that had advanced to this weekend’s state tournament with a 57-55 win.

“The girls just stayed hungrier,’’ Johnson said of his players. “They always give it all they got.’’

And “all they got’’ was needed on this night, which began with a late arrival by the Prairie team due to traffic congestion on Interstate 5.

“We started at 11:30 a.m. and we still got there late,’’ Johnson said of the bus ride. “Traffic was bad all the way through Seattle. The girls were panicking a little bit and I just told them, ‘They’re not going to start the game without us.’’’

Juanita standout Tea Adams scored the first six points of the game before Johnson quickly changed the Falcons’ defensive strategy, switching to a box-and-one zone that had Jamie Phares and Lindsay Asplund taking turns blanketing Adams wherever she went.

“We had a plan set that we were going to start of with our regular defense,’’ Johnson said. “We knew how good she was. Jamie and Lindsay did a great job on her.’’

After the change in defenses, Prairie went on a 10-2 run to take the lead and then a 10-0 run early in the second quarter gave the Falcons an 11-point lead. At halftime, Prairie led 26-21.

The Falcons maintained control of the game throughout the second half, but a pair of Juanita 3-pointers pulled the Rebels to within a point with 12 seconds left. Prairie’s Cherita Daugherty then made a free throw with 9.6 seconds remaining to help secure the win.

Daugherty scored 17 points to lead Prairie, which improved to 18-6 on the season. Asplund and Jozie Tangeman each added 10 points and Emily Peters chipped in nine.

Natalie Whitesel had five points and 15 rebounds for the Falcons. Ten of Whitesel’s 15 rebounds were on the offensive end of the court.

“She had nine of those offensive rebounds in the first half,’’ Johnson said of Whitesel’s effort. “They led to a lot of second-chance points, a lot of kick-out 3-pointers.’’

Prairie will face Bellevue at 12:15 p.m. on Thu., March 5 at the Tacoma Dome. Bellevue, which finished third at last year’s 3A state tournament, defeated Lincoln 60-47 to advance to the round of eight.

“I think at this point, we’re all about the same,’’ Johnson said. “I don’t see any teams who would dominate for any reason. They (Bellevue) finish really well around the basket so we’ve just got to guard the basket a little better than what we’ve done.’’

Johnson said his focus leading into to the state tournament was for his team to do what it has done all season.

“I am proud of the girls; they’ve done everything we’ve asked them to do,’’ Johnson said. “The girls have worked hard. There’s no reason we shouldn’t think we shouldn’t win it all.’’

Several seniors on this year’s Prairie team were members of the Falcons squad that won the state championship in 2012, the sixth state title in the history of the program.