The beauty of Prairie’s boys basketball team, flooded with outside shooters who at one point set a single-game record with 19 3-pointers this season, is there can be balance or heroes.
Wednesday’s heroics were courtesy of Braiden Broadbent, whose near season-high in points and scoring nearly 75 percent of his team’s third-quarter points were a difference maker in a 53-41 victory Wednesday night to open the 3A bi-district tournament at Prairie High School.
Now, the Falcons (16-5) turn their attention to the winner of Thursday’s Stadium-Timberline game. The winner gets the Falcons at 1:45 p.m. Saturday in Puyallup for the right to go to the regional round of state.
Broadbent scored 11 of the Falcons’ 15 points in the third quarter, including the final two field goals to push the lead to double digits entering the final eight minutes. He often was fed by co-3A Greater St. Helens League MVP, Kam Osborn, who also finished with 17 points.
And those heroics is what coach Kyle Brooks has seen as of late from the senior guard.
“The last quarter of the season he’s been dialed in,” Brooks said. “I joked with him he has laser focus.”
That laser focus was at its finest Wednesday, but not before much-needed spurts in a regular-season finale win over Kelso to clinch a share of the 3A GSHL title with the Hilanders.
Then, after Bonney Lake’s attempts to slow Prairie’s up-tempo down in the first half, Broadbent’s hot shooting ignited the Falcons’ (16-5) scoring to pull a double-digit lead entering the fourth quarter.
With defensive efforts shifted on Osborn, Broadbent took more of the scoring load to finish with a game-high 23.
“The shots made it a little easier when they started falling,” he said.
Broadbent, who had nine first-half points when Prairie led 26-19, and Osborn combined for all of the Falcons’ 3s. Osborn’s 3-pointer with 5:23 left made it a 49-30 lead — Prairie’s largest of the game.
Alex Stevenson led Bonney Lake (9-12) with 11 points.
PRAIRIE 53, BONNEY LAKE 41
Bonney Lake — Tyson Lawyes 6, Ales Stevenson 11, Champs Spencer 8, Kaiden Hammond 2, Ryan Arpin 3, Jordan Arpin 0, Zane Foster 6, Gabe Sturp 5. Totals 16 (5) 4-8 41.
Prairie — Dante Heitschmidt 4, Kam Osborn 17, Braiden Broadbent 23, Zeke Dixson 3, Logan Reed 4, Matthew Kogler 4, Kaleb Locke 0, AJ Dixson 0, Nate Millspaugh 0. Totals 21 (9) 2-4 53.
BL 11 8 11 11 – 41
Pra 13 13 15 12 – 53
