3A boys bi-district: Hot-shooting Prairie earns first state berth since 2019

As Prairie exited its locker room earning its first state in boys basketball since 2019, coach Jimmy Tuominen fist-bumped every player and said, “Enjoy it.”

The Falcons sure did — a convincing 71-44 bi-district home victory over Timberline of Lacey on Thursday. The 3A Greater St. Helens League champions will learn their seed and opponent Sunday for the Class 3A state tournament. 

The past two weeks have been up and down in the win-loss column. The Falcons (16-8) are 3-2 over their past five games, but Thursday’s victory without question, players and coaches said, was a top-3 of best games played all year. 

Especially given what was at stake.

Carson Morningstar’s double-double of 25 points and 15 rebounds, plus another 24 points from Malachi Patton paced the Falcons in a game they led from start to finish. 

Prairie’s hot start came on field goals by four different starters. It had its first double-digit lead by the 2-minute mark of the first quarter and a 22-point halftime advantage.

Sharing the ball and finding the open teammates got Prairie going early, Morningstar said, but what’s been key all season for Prairie also happened Thursday, he added. 

“Our best offense is our defense,” the 6-foot-7 junior said. “We were getting stops, getting rebounds and everything we needed to do to make it happen.”

Morningstar did much of his damage in the paint while Patton shot lights out from mid-range. The two combined for 14 of the team’s 18 third-quarter points. Patton’s back-to-back jumpers gave Prairie a 68-38 lead with 3:14 left in the third. At one stretch, he hit four field goals over a span of 2:30 off the clock. 

“I felt like the ball was on fire and felt like every shot I was going to take was going to go in,” Patton said. “I’m not going to lie, my confidence was through the roof.”

The 2019 Prairie team that reached the Class 3A state tournament went 17-9 that season. This year’s Prairie team is more on the youthful side, and features just two seniors. One senior, Riley Burke (6 points) is in the starting lineup and has seen team growth and a change in culture for the better. 

“We have great teammates, great players off and on the floor,” Burke said. “I feel so comfortable around these guys and our chemistry is through the roof.”

Jamir Jones added 11 for the Falcons.

Kenyon SImmons led Timberline with 12 points.

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PRAIRIE 71, TIMBERLINE 44

PRAIRIE — Jamir Jones 11, Malachi Patton 24, Ben Nkansah 4, Brady Davidson 1, Carson Morningstar 25, Tavin Timperley 0, Daniel Carbajal-Vargas 0, Riley Burke 4, Griffin Smith 2, Jared Femling 0, Rex Lovejoy 0, Tevita Ngauamo 0. Totals 31 (1) 6-8 71.

TIMBERLINE — Damari Evans 0, DJ Falco 6, Carmelo Roper 12, Josh Tichenor 8, Leon Heilman 10, Alex Kumher 0, Will Roraback 0, Isaiah Tillman 4, Arilson Lima 2, Lucas Thompson 0. Totals 18 (4) 4-7 44.

Timberline 6 14 12 12 – 44

Prairie 21 15 18 17 – 71