Nine years since the Prairie Falcons last won a 3A Greater St. Helens League title outright in boys basketball. It’s also the same amount of time since the program last played inside the Tacoma Dome at the Class 3A state tournament.
It’s a lengthy drought for both, so yes, but Monday night in Kelso was a good feeling for the former.
Especially not only because of Prairie’s second-half shooting performance against the Hilanders, but also its defensive efforts, too, resulting in a 72-41 road victory to lock up the 3A GSHL title with two regular-season games remaining.
“This is a big deal for us,” said Osborn, who finished with 14 points, and one of three Falcons to finish in double figures.
Last year, the Falcons shared the league crown with Columbia River.
No sharing this time around after holding Kelso (14-4 overall, 6-2 league) to 19-second half points all while shooting a sizzling 11 of 15 in the third quarter to take a 23-point lead heading into the final eight minutes.
The win locks Prairie (16-2, 8-0) as the league’s No. 1 seed into the West Central/Southwest bi-district tournament with two regular-season games remaining, and it’ll host a first-round game in the double-elimination tournament at 7 p.m. Feb. 8.
In last Wednesday’s 86-59 home win over Kelso, the Falcons did it behind 16 3-pointers and outscored the Hilanders 28-9 in the third quarter for the commanding victory.
Kelso’s physicality inside — and its free-throw shooting — kept it a 10-point game at halftime. Twelve of the Hilanders’ 23 first-half points came at the stripe.
While it made only half of the 3s in Monday’s win (eight), Prairie shot a sizzling 73 percent in the third quarter after holding just a 33-23 halftime lead.
“We knew we had it in us,” said Seth Hall, who finished with a game-high 25 points. “But it took a while for it to come out.”
Once it did, it came in a hurry.
Prairie had buckets in seven straight possessions; only a timeout from Kelso coach Joe Kinch with 5 minutes, 22 seconds left in the third was an attempt to slow what was an 11-2 Falcons run.
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But Prairie scored another two straight buckets, and its lead eventually blossomed to 30 with 3:30 to play in the game.
For Prairie coach Kyle Brooks, it was his team’s defensive performance that stuck out, as his team held the Hilanders to two single-digit scoring quarters, including eight in the fourth. Holding teams to single-digit quarters always is a team goal every game, he noted, and against the Hilanders Monday, it fueled the offense.
“We’re able to get stops like that and go out in transition,” Brooks said, “we’re pretty effective.”;
Braiden Broadbent also finished with 14 points for Prairie and Dwayne Stewart had six of his nine points in the second half.
KELSO — John Roberts 0, Emmitt Kinch 7, Riley Noah 10, Peyton Noah 0, Reece Tack 0, Anders Gamble 0, Christian Huntington 8, Shaw Anderson 14, Nick Moore 2. Totals 10 (3) 18-27 41.
Prairie 21 12 25 14–72
Kelso 16 7 12 6–41
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