BOTHELL — There was a slight delay before the Prairie girls basketball team showed up for its Class 3A regional playoff game on Saturday.
But there is no more waiting for another trip to the Tacoma Dome for the Falcons.
Oh, it took until the final horn sounded for it to become official, but with a gutsy 57-55 win over Juanita of Kirkland, the Falcons advanced to the quarterfinals of the Class 3A state tournament. The win at Bothell High School means Prairie (18-6) returns to the Tacoma Dome for the first time since 2012.
“It feels really good,” senior Lindsay Asplund said. “It’s nice to get back to the dome. Everyone deserves it on this team. We’ve been working really hard for it.”
The game started 26 minutes late because the Falcons’ bus was held up in Puget Sound traffic. When Juanita’s Tea Adams scored the first six points of the game, it looked like Prairie wasn’t quite ready. But Falcons coach Brett Johnson quickly shifted defenses, and the Falcons went on a 10-2 run to take a lead they never relinquished.
The Falcons said they made the most of their extra time on the bus, and noted that they had the normal 20-minute warm-up period once they arrived.
“To be honest it was a fun experience to get dressed and get ready on the bus,” said junior point guard Cherita Daugherty, who scored a team-high 17 points. “We kind of pumped ourselves up. It was a blessing in disguise, I guess.”
A 10-0 run early in the second quarter helped Prairie lead by 11. The margin was five points at halftime and one point when Adams, who led Juanita with 22 points, scored the first two baskets of the third quarter.
But Prairie hit four 3-pointers in the third quarter, two by Daugherty, and the Falcons took a nine-point lead into the fourth quarter.
The key to building and keeping the lead, as usual for Prairie, were rebounding and smart defense.
After Juanita’s Adams scored six quick points to open the game, Prairie shifted to a box-and-one defense with Jamie Phares and Asplund taking turns guarding Adams.
“We flipped from defense to defense to try to mix it up and get into their heads,” Phares said. “(Adams) is a great player. She’s fast. It took a lot of effort to try to fight through those screens.”
The Falcons’ work on the boards also made the Rebels play extra defense. Prairie scored 13 second-chance points by hustling to the offensive glass. Natalie Whitesel led that effort with 10 offensive rebounds among her 15 boards.
“Those (Juanita) girls are 4 or 5 inches taller than her but Natalie knows how to go get the ball,” Johnson said of Whitesel.
The board worked helped Prairie construct a lead that seemed safe as the game clock ticked away. A six-point spurt pulled Juanita to within five points with 5:30 left, but a Whitesel layup ended that surge and the lead toggled between five and seven points until the Rebels hit two 3-pointers around a missed Falcon free throw to make it a one-point game with 12 seconds left.
“They came back and answered with those threes,” Asplund said. “We just knew if we kept working hard and just kept playing good defense that good things would happen.”
Daugherty made one free throw with 9.6 seconds. Juanita’s last chance had no chance, though. Inbounding from midcourt with under 3 seconds on the clock, all the Rebels could muster was a desperate heave.
“(The finish) was exciting and kind of nerve-racking,” Phares said. “But it’s a great feeling to get back to the dome.”
PRAIRIE 57, JUANITA 55
PRAIRIE (18-6) – Lindsay Asplund 10, Jamie Phares 2, Emily Peters 9, Cherita Daugherty 17, Natalie Whitesel 5, Jozie Tangeman 10, Grace Prom 2. Totals 22-62 (6-27) 7-15 57
JUANITA (13-14) — Tea Adams 22, Jaisa Nunn 19, Natalie Kalda 9, Aimee Richardson 2, Shelly Walter 0, Brittany White 3, Hannah Kleppe 0. Totals 20-53 (3-12) 12-17 55.
