The Class 3A Greater St. Helens League begins league play in basketball this week … finally.
So we thought it might be a good time to mention this little tidbit — The Prairie girls basketball team has not lost a regular season league game since Jan. 31, 2000.
Now back on Feb. 19, 2010, Prairie’s 136-game winning streak in league and district competition was snapped with a loss to Camas. But that was in the district championship game.
Since that loss, the Falcons have won another 44 league games, plus four district playoff games.
So for almost the past 15 years, the Prairie girls have a record of 184-1 in league and district play.
Now, let’s turn the way-back machine to the 2011-12 season.
That season Prairie went 19-1 overall in the regular season and 12-0 in the 3A GSHL. The Falcons would go on to capture the 3A state championship, finishing the season 27-1.
The Columbia River girls, meanwhile, finished the 2011-12 season 0-20.
Marion Lilly and Holli Jo Chose were freshmen on that winless River team.
Then Columbia River hired Carl Click as their girls basketball coach. Click spent several seasons as an assistant coach to Al Aldridge at Prairie before coming to River.
The Chieftains went 4-16 in 2012-13, then 13-12 last season and advanced to the bi-district tournament.
On Tuesday, Columbia River will open the 2014-15 3A GSHL season at home against Prairie.
This season, Lilly, Chose and the rest of the Chieftains are 10-2.
The Prairie girls head into league play with a record of 7-5.
Yes, this year’s Prairie girls basketball team may not be the powerhouse it once was. But the Falcons are not slouches by a long shot.
Prairie has played a tough non-league schedule. The Falcons have losses to a pair of 4A GSHL teams (Camas and Skyview), a top-ranked 2A team (Mark Morris), a top-ranked Oregon team (Oregon City) and they played in a big tournament in California.
After a 3-4 start, the Falcons have won four of their last five.
Columbia River’s schedule has not been as tough, but the Chieftains do have wins over 4A GSHL teams Camas, Evergreen and Mountain View. The rest of their wins have come over unranked 2A teams or unranked Oregon teams.
On Friday, the Chieftains fell 57-51 to Centralia — a team Prairie beat 77-31 three days earlier. River also lost Chose to an undisclosed injury, so her status for Tuesday’s game is uncertain.
Still, the Columbia River-Prairie matchup to open league — at River — is an intriguing one, something no one would have thought just three short years ago.
On ESN this week
While the Prairie-Columbia River girls game may be compelling, the guys at the Eli Sports Network will stick with 4A GSHL games this week — because they can get more bang for their buck.
The 4A GSHL is playing boys-girls doubleheaders all season, while the 3A GSHL is splitting boys and girls games on different days. This week 3A GSHL girls will play Tuesday and Thursday, while the boys play Wednesday and Friday.
On Tuesday, Ron Soanka and Matt Conboy will be calling the Camas-Heritage doubleheader at Heritage. On Friday, they’ll be at the Union at Evergreen doubleheader. You can listen at elisportsnetwork.com.
