Twenty-three wins.
No losses.
Another league title.
Another district title.
A state-qualifying victory.
A berth in the bi-district championship game.
Put it all together and you have the makings of a perfect season for the Prairie girls basketball team, right?
Well, not quite.
Things were going very well for the Falcons this season and their state championship hopes. And then in the second quarter Saturday against Wilson of Tacoma, junior standout Heather Corral went down with a knee injury.
Corral didn’t return to the court Saturday, and whether or not she returns to the court at all this season won’t be known until she’s evaluated by doctors today. But the early indications were not good.
To make matters worse, Prairie has another game today — at 2 p.m. against Kennedy of Burien in the Class 3A bi-district title game at the ShoWare Center in Kent.
For those Prairie fans looking for a silver lining in this story, here it is: The Falcons have already won their most important game at the bi-district tournament. That was Saturday’s 62-43 win over Wilson. It assured Prairie of a top seed into this weekend’s regional round of the state playoffs.
Unlike in past seasons, advancing to the 16-team state tournament in basketball doesn’t mean a trip to the Tacoma Dome (or Yakima SunDome or Spokane Arena, depending on classification).
This season, basketball teams will head to a regional site first, similar to how baseball does it.
But unlike baseball — which uses four regional sites to reduce the field to four teams — basketball will use four regional site to reduce the field to eight.
At each regional, two top-seeded teams will play Friday, with the winner earning a trip to the Tacoma Dome (or other state tourney site). Two bottom-seeded teams also will play Friday in a loser-out game. On Saturday, the loser of the top-seeded game will play the winner of the bottom-seeded game, with Saturday’s winner also heading to the Final Eight.
Prairie’s win over Wilson assured the Falcons a top seed at regional. So that means they’ll get two shots this weekend to reach the Dome.
The other silver lining for the Falcons is they’ve gone through this before. Corral tore her ACL at a tournament in Delaware in December 2009, ending her sophomore season. But the Falcons still made it all the way to the state quarterfinals.
Corral joins a growing list of prominent female prep athletes to suffer varying degrees of knee injuries this winter.
Camas basketball player Melissa Williams hurt her knee late last month. And despite her vows to return, Williams didn’t play again this season for the Papermakers.
Woodland’s Hannah Ingraham hurt her knee the night before the Beavers’ district playoff game with Black Hills. Ingraham sat out the game and the Beavers lost to Black Hills. She did return last week but the Beavers were eventually eliminated by W.F. West.
And then there was Columbia River gymnast Jordan Hess, who won a state title on the uneven bars despite a torn ACL.
And now the Prairie girls basketball team may have to get ready to play without Corral.
But if the Falcons can win one game this weekend, they will have accomplished the same feat as last year — reaching the state quarterfinals without Corral. First, there’s today’s game against Kennedy. The winner heads to the Auburn regional; the loser goes the Bellevue regional.
Here’s what’s ahead of the other Clark County basketball teams still playing games:
EVERGREEN BOYS: The Plainsmen face Olympia at 6:15 p.m. today at Auburn High School in a state seeding game at the 4A bi-district tournament. The winner heads to the Juanita regional in Kirkland; the loser goes to the Richland regional.
Win or lose, the Plainsmen head to regionals at a bottom seed.
EVERGREEN GIRLS: Evergreen plays Mount Tahoma of Tacoma at 6:15 p.m. today at Stadium High in Tacoma in a state-seeding game. The winner goes to the Inglemoor/Juanita regional; the loser goes to the Richland regional.
Win or lose, the Plainsmen head to regionals at a bottom seed.
CAMAS BOYS: The Papermakers face Hazen of Renton at 6:15 p.m. today at Mount Tahoma High School in a consolation semifinal at the 3A bi-district tournament.
If Camas wins, it will face the Kennedy-Kelso winner for the bi-district’s fifth and final berth to state at 8 p.m. Tuesday at Clover Park High School in Lakewood. Wins today and Tuesday would send the Papermakers to the Marysville-Pilchuck regional as a bottom seed.
KING’S WAY CHRISTIAN and COLUMBIA ADVENTIST BOYS: The Knights and Kodiaks clinched state berths and spots in the 1B district title game with victories Saturday. King’s Way beat Taholah 59-47, and Columbia Adventist beat Mary M. Knight 79-53. The two teams meet at 8 tonight for the district title in Montesano.
The winner heads to the Timberline regional in Lacey as a top seed. The loser goes to the Mountlake Terrace regional as a bottom seed.
COLUMBIA ADVENTIST GIRLS: Columbia Adventist earned a berth in the 1B district title game by beating Mary M. Knight 46-42 on Saturday night. The Kodiaks play Taholah at 6 p.m. today in Montesano.
Win, and the Kodiaks got to Timberline as a top seed. Lose, and they go to Mountlake Terrace as a bottom seed.
Tim Martinez is the assistant sports editor/prep coordinator for The Columbian. He can be reached by phone at (360) 735-4538 or e-mail at tim.martinez@columbian.com
