PUYALLUP — Does any Class 3A boys basketball team want to face the Prairie Falcons right now?
A team that hasn’t lost a game since late December just captured its first bi-district title under its longtime head coach, and is one of the hottest teams statewide playing its best basketball entering the 3A regionals.
So, does any team want to face Prairie, especially after capturing a 66-62 win over league-rival Kelso at Puyallup High School?
Probably not.
“I think we can be a force to be reckoned with,” said senior guard Kam Osborn.
And why not, as winners of 14 straight games. Saturday, Osborn had 16 points, junior Aidan Fraly had 17 of his team-high 20 in the second half, and Zeke Dixson went 4 of 4 at the free-throw line the final 17 seconds to lift the Falcons to the bi-district crown.
Players like Osborn and Dixson had trouble finding the perfect words describing what Saturday meant to them. After all, this is a team with a number of fresh faces in the starting lineup to start this season that began with losses in four of their first five games.
“I’m speechless,” Osborn said. “This is awesome.”
Prairie hasn’t lost a game since late December on its winter-break tournament trip to Arizona. Saturday also was a personal milestone, for Osborn, the Falcons’ senior point guard bound for NAIA Oregon Tech. He became the program’s career scoring leader, surpassing Dan Dickau’s 1,267 career points with his 3-pointer to end the first quarter tied at 13-all.
He now sits atop the career scoring list at Prairie, surpassing two Falcons who went onto be professional athletes: Dickau and Richie Sexson.
But Saturday, winning a bi-district title was what Osborn had on his mind. The past two years, the West Central/Southwest bi-district tournament has belonged to Southwest Washington with the bi-district champion coming out of the 3A Greater St. Helens League.
Saturday, the two league rivals faced off for a third time after splitting their regular-season meetings, each winning on their team’s home floor.
Prairie took the lead for good with Osborn’s jumper to start the second quarter, led by as many as 13 in the second half with big scoring plays by Fraly, and kept its lead at double digits with 2:21 to play in the game.
But Kelso was far from done.
The Hilanders, powered by Seattle Pacific-bound and 3A GSHL MVP Shaw Anderson in the fourth quarter, slowly chipped at Prairie’s lead. Kelso went on an 11-2 run in under 2 minutes, and while never taking the lead, got it to 62-60 inside 30 seconds left.
That’s when Dixson comes in.
The junior went 4 of 4 in the closing seconds, hitting two free throws with 17 seconds to go and another two that made it a four-point lead with 4 seconds left.
Dixson admitted he “almost had a heart attack” at the line. He said he’s never been in such a pressure-filled situation like he was Saturday with so much at stake, but is grateful for recent practices where his confidence soared.
That translated perfectly into Saturday.
“I’ve been thinking about those situations,” Dixson said, “and knocking them down lately.”
The game’s outcome brought out emotions for longtime coach Kyle Brooks, who’s watched his Falcons grow, mature and get better with every game.
Hard to believe this team that’s now has one of the state’s longest winning streaks began 3-7, including dropping four of its first give games out of the gate. One of those seven losses was to Kelso in mid-December.
“These guys could’ve rolled over,” the coach said. “Absolutely could’ve rolled over. The grit and determination and toughness, they never quit. It’s a pretty simple formula for us.”
That grit and determination Brook praised of his players having all season, all this week, helped the Falcons once more Saturday when a 13-point lead was cut to two late.
“Coach Brooks talks about weathering the storm,” Dixson said. “… Every time they scored, we came back with our own bucket, and that’s how we came back to win at the end.
“If we hung our heads, we would’ve been done. “We got the buckets, we got the free throws and came out with the win.”
PRAIRIE 66, KELSO 62
KELSO (20-3) — Josh Webb 11, Riley Noah 7, Jayden Hardeman 13, Shaw Anderson 26. Totals 22 (3) 9-11 62.
PRAIRIE (17-7) — Aidan Fraly 20, Kam Osborn 16, AJ Dixson 7, Zeke Dixson 12, Mark Frazier 0, Thomas Hapgood 0, Bronson King 8. Totals 23 (7) 10-17 66.
Kelso 13 12 16 21–62
Prairie 13 18 17 18–66
