For many, it is the game of the girls basketball season.
At least the regular season.
Come February, both of these teams will be on similar yet different journeys, trips they hope will take them into March.
Prairie will be trying to make the Class 3A state basketball tournament. Skyview wants to make the round of 16 in Class 4A.
Every year, though, they play each other in a non-league game.
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Every year, they use this game for more than just filling out the December schedule.
This season, Prairie earned the bragging rights among the top two girls basketball programs in Southwest Washington with a 48-46 victory at Prairie.
“I like playing Prairie because we’re all friends. We’ve known each other forever,” Skyview senior Sydney Friauf said prior to Tuesday’s game. “Playing them is always fun because it’s tough competition.”
“Honestly, this is the game I look forward to the most,” Prairie senior Grace Prom said. “It’s just great competition.”
Cassidy Gardner scored 13 points Tuesday night and two new players to this rivalry had some big moments.
“It was intense. We talked about it all week. This is ‘The Game’ we had to perform well,” said sophomore Brooke Walling, a newcomer to the Prairie program.
She scored nine points and had four assists, plus she held last season’s All-Region player of the year Ashlee Comastro to six points and four rebounds.
“You don’t get any breaks against her. I had to play 100 percent every time,” Walling said. “She’s a really good player. It was very difficult. It was very hard.”
Yet rewarding.
Fittingly, one of the biggest names associated with this rivalry made a bit shot. Freshman Allie Corral, younger sister of Ashley and Heather, beat the shot clock to score on a bank shot with 2:20 to play in the game. That made it 48-46 — the game-winner.
“It’s definitely nerve-racking, trying to hold up to those standards,” she said of the rivalry.
Jozie Tangeman scored all 11 of her points in the first half for the Falcons.
Riley Friauf led Skyview with 15 points and Sydney Friauf had a double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds to go with four assists.
Defenses prevailed in the final moments, with Skyview missing a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Both of these squads expect to make long playoff runs. It’s what they do. And they get a feel off of each other, every season, with this matchup.
“Playing them, it helps us grow,” Prom said. “It definitely makes us better.”
That is why the coaches want this matchup. Plus, they know what it means for their sport. This is UConn and Tennessee of Clark County.
“The history, the tradition,” Skyview coach Jennifer Buscher said. “For as long as I’ve been here, it’s one of the biggest games of the season. It brings the community out to watch. It’s good for girls basketball.”
Hala Corral is in her first year as Prairie’s head coach. Of course, with two daughters who have already played in the program and another who is a freshman this season, she is well aware of this friendly rivalry. She even remembers when it was not as friendly, when the two teams were in the same league. Now that they are in different classifications, the teams use this game to improve.
“The girls look forward to it. The coaches look forward to it,” Corral said. “It’s just a good test to see where you are as a program.”
History suggests they are both strong.
Skyview has made the round of 16 in four of the past five seasons. Prairie has made the round of 16 for the past 19 seasons. Both programs won state championships on the same day in 2012.
The list of accomplishments could go on and on. Both programs hope to make those lists go on for at least one more season.
“Being league champion and going to the dome has kind of been a tradition,” Sydney Friauf said. “Obviously the goal this year is to do all that again and hopefully win a state championship.”
The Falcons have some strong beliefs going into the winter as well.
“State championship,” Prom said of her team’s goal. “That’s it.”
PRAIRIE 48, SKYVIEW 46
SKYVIEW — Riley Friauf 15, Sydney Friauf 10, Hanna Van Nortwick 7, Remington Riley 8, Nicole Christensen 0, Ashlee Comastro 6. Totals 19-42 (5-14) 3-7 46.
PRAIRIE — Allie Corral 4, Jozie Tangeman 11, Mallory Williams 1, Grace Prom 7, Malaika Quigley 0, Haley Reed 3, Cassidy Gardner 13, Brooke Walling 9. Totals 20-52 (5-20) 3-5 48.
Skyview 11 18 10 7–46
Prairie 11 17 10 10–48
JV — Prairie won.
