Here, you shoot it.
No, I insist, you shoot it.
Perhaps the Prairie Falcons never said these words Friday night, but they might as well have in their Class 3A Greater St. Helens League girls basketball victory over Camas.
Angela Gelhar made six 3-pointers and scored 24 points, and the Falcons recorded 22 assists on their 29 field goals in a 78-52 decision.
“Mostly, we’re trying to see who has the best opportunity to score, who has their feet set,” said Lauren Goecke, who had six assists.
“We make sure we pass it around the perimeter to get the person who is most open a shot,” Gelhar said.
Turns out, Gelhar was open. A lot.
“If it looks in my range, I shoot it,” she said.
That’s just the thing, though. Opposing coaches have not figured out just how far that range is for Gelhar.
“We don’t teach our kids to face guard at 24 feet,” Camas coach Kent Thomas said, praising Gelhar’s long-distance ability.
Gelhar made three 3-pointers in the first quarter, leading Prairie to a 13-point lead.
Goecke, meanwhile, had 14 of her 17 points in the first half as Prairie put an end to any hope of an upset for the Papermakers.
The Falcons have now won 116 consecutive league games and are closing in on the 10th anniversary of their last loss to a Clark County opponent. The Papermakers, who came into Friday’s game with a 3-0 league record this season, were a possible threat to end that string.
“We’re always scared to lose the streak, but we were confident in ourselves,” Gelhar said.
“I thought we played a real solid game against a very good team,” Prairie coach Al Aldridge said. “I thought we played great defense for the most part. We had good shot selection and, fortunately, hit enough.”
Prairie was 17 of 28 from the floor in the first half for a 43-22 lead. The Falcons finished 29 of 56.
Michelle Bolliger added nine points for Prairie. Jackie Lanz had seven points and three assists, and Taylor Peacock came off the bench and added four assists.
Camas was dealt a setback just a minute into the game. The program’s top player, Melissa Williams, broke her nose on Monday and tried to play through the pain. Instead, she got hit in the nose and missed most of the first half.
She did return in the third quarter — Camas’ best period of the night — but Prairie was too far gone for a Camas comeback.
“The hardest thing in the world is to coach effort. We’re not coaching effort. The effort was there,” Camas coach Kent Thomas said. “Give Prairie a lot of credit. Their pressure forced us into a spot where we dug ourselves a deep hole in the first half.”
Haley Smith led Camas with 16 points and eight rebounds. She made all eight of her free throws. Katelyn Henson added 12 points, and Williams finished with eight.
Camas showed some life in that third period, but even after a mini-run, Gelhar was there to respond. She made three 3-pointers in the quarter.
“We really respect them. I think they’re a very good team,” Gelhar said of the Papermakers.
She added that she hopes Williams is completely healthy the next time the teams play.
The Falcons have continued their winning ways without the help of Heather Corral, who is done for the season following knee surgery.
Goecke said it was good for her team to play three league games without Corral prior to facing the challenge of Camas.
“We had to regroup. Some people learned new positions,” she said. “It helped build confidence with everyone. They had more time. It wasn’t so stressful.”
The Falcons took the stress out of Friday’s game early, by finding the open look, and burying the shots.
