The fourth trip to Wyoming was the charm for the Prairie High girls basketball team as they claimed the championship of the Energy Classic in Gillette on Thursday night.
Heather Corral scored 20 points as the Falcons defeated the host school, Campbell County, 64-49 in front of a packed gym.
Over the years, Prairie has climbed the ladder at Gillette. The Falcons’ previous finishes were fifth, third and second.
“We just elevated our game,” Prairie coach Al Aldridge said. “We got better because of this tournament.”
Corral, Lauren Goecke and Angela Gelhar were named to the all-tournament team.
Aldridge said the Falcons greatly benefited from the different style of teams they played in the tournament.
Host Campbell County, for instance, featured a guard-heavy lineup and a pressing defense, but Prairie countered with its own style of defense and held the host team to well under its 80-point average.
“This is a great win for us,” Aldridge said. “The folks at home will see a lot better team then when we left.”
Evergreen 47, South Medford 45 — Justine Joudrey dribbled the length of the court to score the winning layup at the buzzer. The Plainsmen finished 2-2 at the Nike Interstate Shootout in Lake Oswego, Ore.
Joudrey finished with a game-high 23 points in her third game back from injury.
South Medford led 11-0 early, but the Plainsmen built a double-digit lead in the second quarter and were in front until some Evergreen missed free throws in the fourth quarter helped South Medford rally.
South Eugene 61, Skyview 46 — Aubrey Ward-El scored 14 points as the Storm finished eighth in the Swoosh Bracket of the Nike Interstate Shootout in Lake Oswego, Ore.
Skyview, 6-3 overall, went 2-2 at the tournament.
South Eugene jumped out to a 10-point lead after the first quarter, and held Skyview to five points in the third quarter.
Camas 66, Hockinson 26 — Kendra Preuninger scored 17 points, Melissa Williams 14 and Kayla Roche 13 as Camas rolled to the non-league victory over visiting Hockinson.
Woodland 51, Riverside 28 — Hannah Ingraham scored 17 points and Taylor McCullough added 12 as Woodland won at the SunDome Shootout on Thursday. Woodland lost to White River 56-41 late Wednesday.
Boys basketball
Battle Ground 60, Bismarck, N.D. 54 — Battle Ground won the fourth-place game at the Energy Classic in Gillette, Wyo., over the defending state champions from North Dakota. The Tigers improved to 7-1 on the season.
Seth Belknap, who scored 11 points and had five rebounds, was named to the all-tournament team.
Travis Studer led the Battle Ground scoring with 12 point. Willie Bratcher added 11.
“Bismarck is a tough team to defend,” Battle Ground coach Andy Schoonover said. “On this third day, we had to play at 11:45 in the morning. It’s a weird time to play, but the kids stayed focused.”
Mountain View 53, Glencoe 49 — The Thunder made 7 of 8 free throws in the final 90 seconds to secure the victory.
Zach Torson, who was 5 of 6 in that stretch, led Mountain View with 14 points. Ryan Johnson added 10 points, nine rebounds, six assists, and six steals.
Mountain View outscored Glencoe by nine points in the second quarter to take the lead.
North Eugene 52, Skyview 48 — North Eugene rallied in the second half to edge visiting Skyview.
The Storm (1-7) led by 10 points at the half, but was outscored 36-22 in the second half.
Austin Bonds led the Storm in scoring with 19 points, and Anthony Chamberlain added 15 points.
Ridgefield 49, Deer Park 38 — Max Ballentyne scored eight of his 10 points during a big third-quarter run for the Spudders, who won both of their games at the SunDome Shootout in Yakima.
Ridgefield outscored Deer Park 15-3 in the third quarter to blow open a game that was 25-24 at halftime.
Michael Potter had 18 points and 10 rebounds and was named player of the game for the Spudders (5-5). Sam Landerholm added 14 points, and Alex Olsen had eight rebounds.
Washougal 46, Centralia 42 — Sophomore Aaron Diester made the most of the first start of his career, scoring 15 points in the first three quarters for the Panthers.
Washougal got defensive, too, holding Centralia to 11 second-half points.
TC White connected on a 3-pointer in the fourth quarter, then made two free throws in the closing seconds to give Washougal a four-point lead.
