The Prairie Falcons were there, in the middle of the Skyview celebration, Friday night at the Class 4A state regional girls basketball game at Battle Ground High School.
The Skyview Storm were there, in the middle of the Prairie celebration, Saturday night at the Class 3A state regional girls basketball game at Battle Ground High School.
If the Storm are playing, and the schedule allows, the Falcons are there. Same thing when the Falcons are playing. Not just this past weekend, but all season long.
The two best girls basketball programs in Clark County are non-league rivals once a year when they play each other. In all the other games, they want to see Prairie and Skyview victories.
For the second year in a row, the Storm and Falcons have both reached the Tacoma Dome for the state quarterfinals. Back in 2012, these two programs won state championships on the same day.
That was not possible a decade ago when the two programs were in the same classification. In fact, when these two teams were in the same league, there was nothing friendly about the rivalry.
Now, today’s Falcons and Storm go back to youth basketball, when many of them were on the same team. They support one another because there are so many close friends on each team. Just moments after their non-league game in December — a Prairie win this season — members of both teams were sitting in the bleachers together, watching the boys game.
“I have a deep past with Prairie, playing with their youth team,” Skyview senior Kirsten Johnson said. “I’ve got deep bonds with their girls. We hang out outside of basketball, too. The bond never left.”
Then there is simple respect. Only the best of the best understand how hard it is to remain on top, year after year.
“It helps we’re not in the same league,” Skyview junior Hanna VanNortwick said. “We’re the two best programs around, and because we’re not in the same league, might as well cheer each other on.”
Prairie’s Grace Prom is close to a number of Storm.
“Even though we play on different teams, we still support each other,” Prom said. “We want each other to go far.”
Prom said if the Storm are playing, and Prairie is not, it is almost a guarantee most, if not all, the Falcons will be there.
“Going to each other’s games, that’s just what we do,” Prairie senior Cherita Daugherty said.
“Off the court, we’re all friends. We all get along.”
Skyview and Prairie also put on similar displays in their regional games. Skyview crushed Bellarmine Prep with a 31-8 fourth quarter. Prairie, meanwhile, held Mercer Island to no field goals for a 14-minute stretch.
“It was nice to seem them,” Johnson said of the Falcons at the Skyview game Friday. “I know they’re there for me, and I’m there for them. I was cheering loud and proud for Prairie (on Saturday).”
The relationship can be inspiring, too.
“Grace told me that them seeing us win pumped them up for their game,” VanNortwick said.
The coaches are close, too.
Brett Johnson of Prairie and Jennifer Buscher of Skyview have high praise for one another.
“She’s the one I go to,” Johnson said. “I trust her the most. I give her advice. She gives me advice.”
“We spend a lot of time together in the summer,” Buscher said. “I think that’s why we’re both at the level we are at with the girls. Camps. Clinics. His kids play our kids. He’s definitely my go-to coach. I value his perspective.”
The schedule could work out perfectly again this week in the Tacoma Dome. Skyview plays its quarterfinal game at 2 p.m. Thursday. Prairie will take the court at 5:30 p.m.
The Falcons and the Storm will be there for one another.
