PRAIRIE USED ITS suffocating defense to propel a 23-1 run in the third quarter of Thursday’s bi-district playoff game with Enumclaw. Here, Macey Hsu (on left) and Natalie Whitesel (on right) surround an Enumclaw player to force a turnover.
PRAIRIE JUNIOR GUARD Jozie Tangeman (12) attempts a 3-pointer during the Falcons’ Class 3A bi-district tournament opener Thursday at Prairie High School. Tangeman led a balanced Prairie attack with 12 points in a 60-27 victory over Enumclaw.
BRUSH PRAIRIE – Defend, rebound and move the basketball to get high percentage scoring opportunities on offense. It’s a formula for success that has served basketball teams for many years.
Prairie followed that blueprint Thursday night to claim a 60-27 victory in the Falcons’ opener of the Class 3A bi-district girls basketball tournament, played at Prairie High School.
“I was happy with the second half; I wasn’t too happy with the first half,’’ said Prairie coach Brett Johnson of his team’s performance. “We had a little discussion at halftime. We weren’t rebounding in the first half and we just weren’t finishing. We must have missed four or five layups. You can’t give away points in the playoffs. Each game is going to get harder and harder.’’
Johnson got the attention of his players at halftime with his critique of their first half performance, which led to a 27-15 Prairie lead after the first two quarters. He also cautioned his team before the game about any potential letdown, pointing out that Columbia River, the No. 1 seed from the boys Class 3A Greater St. Helens League, lost its playoff opener on its own home court one night earlier.
“I wasn’t trying to use the Columbia River boys as a primary example, but I guess I did,’’ Johnson said. “You can’t look past a team and I thought the Columbia River boys did that the other day.’’
Whatever problems Prairie had in the first half Thursday, the Falcons more than solved during their halftime break. Prairie stormed out of the locker room and outscored Enumclaw 23-1 in the third quarter to take firm control of the first-round game.
“They buckled down on defense,’’ said Johnson, who had his team switch back to a man-to-man defense in the third quarter. “We got up in their face. I kept telling the posts that they had to play in front of their man. When we do that we get steals. When we play behind the post, we get in foul trouble. We also got in the passing lanes and we moved the ball a lot better in the second half.’’
Johnson credited senior Kris Rocci with setting the tone for the Falcons on defense. Rocci, a 5-7 post, came off the Prairie bench to register seven steals.
“Usually, you need one or two people to get it started and that’s what Kris does,’’ Johnson said of Rocci. “She flies around and gets it started. She’s been hurt but she doesn’t care. She’s out there diving on the ground.’’
On offense, Prairie got contributions from all 12 of its players. Jozie Tangeman led the balanced attack with 12 points. Enumclaw had focused its defense on stopping Grace Prom, Prairie’s junior wing. That freed up Tangeman.
“They had a box-and-one on Grace so I told Jozie to show them that you can shoot,’’ Johnson said.
Senior Natalie Whitesel added 10 points for Prairie, Cherita Daugherty and Mallory Williams added eight and Prom finished with six.
The victory improved Prairie’s season record to 18-3. The Falcons won their 11th straight game since Jan. 1 and the smallest margin of victory for Prairie during the streak was 13 points.
The win moved Prairie to within one game of advancing to the state tournament. The Falcons were scheduled to play Bonney Lake on Saturday in the bi-district semifinals. The bi-district tournament will conclude on Sat., Feb. 20.
