PRAIRIE COACH KYLE BROOKS calls senior point guard Michael Stockbridge (5) his team’s “unsung hero’’ this season.
PRAIRIE GUARD Palmer Goecke (2), shown here in a game earlier this season, has been shooting consistently for the Falcons ever since Christmas according to coach Kyle Brooks. Goecke and his teammates will face league-rival Columbia River at Prairie Thursday.
BRUSH PRAIRIE – The race for the Class 3A Greater St. Helens League (GSHL) boys basketball title will undoubtedly come down to one game – Thursday’s battle between Columbia River and Prairie.
The game, to be held at Prairie High School, is a rematch of the GSHL rivals who had a memorable battle earlier this season. In that game, Columbia River defeated the Falcons 47-44 on a last-second shot.
That defeat has left Prairie one-game behind the Chieftains in the league standings. Both teams had 12-4 overall records heading into this week’s action but Columbia River is 3-0 in league play and Prairie is right behind at 2-1.
Since their loss at Columbia River Jan. 13, Prairie had won three straight games heading into Tuesday’s game at W.F. West.
“Progressively, we’re getting better each week,’’ said Prairie coach Kyle Brooks. “We’ve got good chemistry. The games we’ve lost have been against really good teams. We’ve had an opportunity to be challenged and to get better.’’
Regardless of the outcome of Thursday’s game, both Prairie and Columbia River are headed to postseason play. However, the league champion will have the advantage of a first-round home game in the regional tournament, a prize Brooks would very much like his team to earn.
The young Falcons have plenty of indicators to show they are improving.
“Our defense has been very good compared to last year,’’ said Brooks, who pointed out the 47 points the Falcons limited Columbia River to was the Chieftains’ second-lowest to that point of the season. “We’re scoring 59 points a game and giving up only 50. We’ve really improved over a year ago.’’
Since that disappointing loss to River, Prairie appears to have continued that trend, winning at Kelso 66-39 on Jan. 15, and 83-45 at Fort Vancouver on Jan. 20 and 62-44 at home in a non-league game with Tumwater Jan. 22.
Leading the Falcons’ improvement have been senior guard Palmer Goecke and juniors Greg Bernash and Seth Hall.
Goecke, a 6-3 guard, continued his hot shooting with 16 points in the win at Kelso.
“Since Christmas, Palmer has shot the ball really well for us,’’ Brooks said. “He had a couple of tough games out of the gate this season but when we got to our holiday tournaments he found his rhythm and he’s been shooting it really well from behind the 3-point line ever since.’’
Bernash, a 6-foot-6 forward, had 24 points in the win at Kelso and 16 points and eight rebounds in the win over Tumwater.
Hall, a 6-3 guard, had 16 points in the win at Fort Vancouver and added 15 in the win over Tumwater.
“Seth Hall has improved a ton this year,’’ Brooks said. “He has been very consistent with his scoring this year.’’
Brooks also pointed out that senior point guard Michael Stockbridge has been the team’s “unsung hero’’ this season and that freshman guard Kameron Osborn has been “a nice addition off the bench’’ during the second half of the season.
Dwayne Stewart, a 6-7 junior center, had 15 points and 13 rebounds in the win at Fort Vancouver and sophomore Matthew Kogler had 20 points in that same victory.
During trips to their two holiday tournaments, the Falcons had plenty of time to spend focusing on what they wanted to accomplish this season. Brooks pointed out that since the WIAA reduced the state tournament to an 8-team field the Falcons haven’t qualified for the annual event at the Tacoma Dome. His played would like to change that.
“When we went to Gillete (Wyoming) and Tacoma, we had a lot of opportunities to talk about that,’’ Brooks said. “Their vision is to get to the Tacoma Dome. Last year, we got deep into the regional tournament. The kids would like to beat River and win a league title but we’re going to have to work hard to do that.’’
