TACOMA — Defense kept the Prairie girls basketball team in it, until the Falcons’ offense went on hiatus.
Undefeated Lynnwood used a big third quarter to pull away from Prairie, then held on for a 46-37 win in the quarterfinals of the 3A state tournament Thursday evening at the Tacoma Dome.
Grace Prom led the Falcons with nine points in the loss.
Carrying a couple of Division I prospects, including Oregon State-bound Mikayla Pivec who came in averaging 22 points per game, it was a tough match-up on paper.
But the Falcons stuck with them even though their offense wasn’t exactly clicking. They trailed 22-20 at halftime.
And after going down by 18 in the fourth quarter, they rallied to get the game to within seven points with over 90 seconds left.
The Falcons had scoring balance but frequency was lacking. After being tied 8-8 after the first quarter, Prairie opened the second quarter on a 5:03 scoring drought.
“Our defense kept us in it,” Falcons coach Brett Johnson said. “We were only down by two to the No. 12 team in the nation.”
However, their 2-3 zone defense which encouraged the Royals to launch from the outside could only work for so long.
Lynwood’s Jordan Edwards scored 12 of her 15 points in the second half, including two 3-pointers, which helped the Lynwood offense get rolling.
Pivec didn’t get to her average scoring mark, but she was dominant throughout the game, finishing with a game-high 20 rebounds to go along with 15 points.
Cherita Daugherty had a team-high six rebounds for Prairie.
Prairie scored just three points in the third quarter.
The Royals also did a good job of making things tough for the Falcons in half court situations and with a full court press, forcing 17 turnovers.
And despite the gaudy rebounding totals from Pivec, they managed to hang with the bigger Royals on the glass, 35-33.
On the offensive boards though, the Royals were clinical, earning a 15-7 advantage.
Senior guard Macey Hsu was a big part of the comeback attempt, hitting two 3-pointers in the last two minutes of the game to get the game close.
“It feels great to be here in the Tacoma Dome, it’s been our goal all season,” Hsu said. “And again Lynnwood is a really good team. We fought really hard, really well. We just have to get a win tomorrow and keep playing hard.”
After losing their only two games at The Dome last year, the Falcons are keen on extending their stay in the area with a win Friday against Mt. Spokane.
“I told them we’re definitely not doing what we did last year,” Johnson said. “Let’s win this game tomorrow. Play the way we want to play.”
LYNNWOOD 46, PRAIRIE 37
PRAIRIE — Jozie Tangeman 6, Grace Prom 9, Macey Hsu 6, Charita Daugherty 3, Natalie Whitesel 5, Cassidy Gardner 3, Kris Rocci 0, Mallory Williams 5, Malaika Quigley 0. Totals 12 (10), 3-3 37.
LYNNWOOD — Jordyn Edwards 15, Mikayla Pivec 15, Kelsey Rogers 6, Reilly Walsh 6, Kaprice Boston 3, Abby Remane 0, Rachel Walsh 0, Valerie Bell 0, Taylor Fahey 0, Abby Douglas 0, Kaui Pillani 0, Kia Crawford 0. Totals 18 (5), 5-17 46.
Prairie 8 12 3 14–37
Lynnwood 8 14 15 9–46
