Prom is ready to dance for Prairie in playoffs

While looks can be deceiving, a look can be intimidating.

Grace Prom, a junior from Prairie, is serious when she walks on a basketball court. On a mission. Calculated. Intense.

Her coach loves that look, appreciates it. To him, it means she is ready.

For Prom, well, it gives her an edge, too. Because, she acknowledges, she does not have the “look” of a great basketball player. At 5-feet, 5-inches, she does not present a fear factor to opponents.

Until the game starts, anyway.

“People see Cherita, and they know she can play,” Prom said, referring to teammate Cherita Daugherty, a senior who has signed with Idaho and was The Columbian’s All-Region player of the year last season.

“I think it’s an advantage for me,” Prom said of her size. “Once I start hitting my shots, though, they know. ‘Hey, she can shoot.’ ”

Yes, she is a 3-point sharpshooter, but Prom is more than a shooter. She also has learned to attack the heart of a defense, finish at the basket, or find an open teammate for an easier shot.

She worked on all aspects of her game throughout the offseason, and she returned as one of the best players in the Class 3A Greater St. Helens League. Prom, in fact, was named the league’s co-player of the year along with Daugherty.

Together, they will lead Prairie into the Class 3A state regional on Saturday when the Falcons take on Mercer Island at Battle Ground High School. The winner will advance to the Hardwood Classic at the Tacoma Dome.

“I was really shocked and very honored. I was really, really happy,” Prom said of the co-player-of-the-year honor. “I was happy I got to share that with Cherita.”

The honor came about because of 12 months of work, not just the winter basketball season. Prairie coach Brett Johnson said Prom is one who is always working on her skills.

“You could tell, even in the summer,” Johnson said, that this season was going to be special.

Prom knew early in the season, too, that something was different. Different in a good way.

“It felt natural. It felt like everything was flowing when I was on the court. I felt comfortable,” Prom said. “That’s what I was trying to do, step up my game, trying to help the team.”

Prom became Prairie’s leading scorer, and she picked up her defense and rebounding, too.

Now, 24 games into her junior season, no opponent overlooks her.

Grace Prom looks like an all-around basketball player because she is an all-around talent.