TACOMA — What hurts most, Brooke Walling said, is the Prairie Falcons wished they played better in their first-round game of the Class 3A girls basketball Hardwood Classic.
Because they know they could have.
“There’s so many little things we could’ve done better,” said Walling.
Those little things, the Falcons’ junior pointed to, turned up big in a 49-45 loss to Stanwood in Wednesday night’s loser-out game at the Tacoma Dome.
Like Stanwood outrebounding Prairie by 15. Or the Spartans holding Prairie to one field goal in the final quarter.
Stanwood, behind three scoring in double figured, never relinquished its lead after scoring on its opening possession of the fourth quarter. It advances to Thursday’s 3A quarterfinal against Lincoln at 5:30 p.m.
The back-and-forth game Wednesday featured 14 lead changes, including five in the third quarter.
Tied at 34-34 entering the fourth, Julian Heichel set the tone early for Stanwood to begin the quarter. She scored six of her team-high 16 points to push her team’s lead to its largest of the game at that point, 43-38, inside 3 minutes to go.
Prairie kept pace because of its free-throw shooting. It went 8 of 8 in the fourth and 13 of 16 for the game, but made just one field goal. That came from Walling, whose 3 with 3.2 seconds to go pulled Prairie within 48-45.
Walling did all she could Wednesday. She finished with 27 points, including 16 in the first half on 6 of 7 shooting when Prairie led 24-20 at halftime. Mallory Williams added seven points and Meri Dunford had five. Prairie’s starting backcourt of Allie Corral and Cassidy Gardner combined for four points.
Prairie turned the ball over just seven times, but also shot 29 percent.
“We got tired, and we were in our own heads,” Walling said. “We weren’t able to finish inside and it reflected on the outside. We couldn’t get the ball in the net.
To start the third, though, that’s when Stanwood used a 6-2 run to tie it at 26 — the first of five third-quarter ties.
While first-day exit wasn’t what the Falcons planned, they can appreciate making it back to the Tacoma Dome for the program’s 12 Dome appearance.
Stanwood’s win sends it to Thursday’s quarterfinal against Lincoln. That’s the opponent the 3A Greater St. Helens League champions hoped to face for a bi-district semifinal rematch in Friday’s semifinal.
But Prairie’s season ends at 21-5, dropping three of its final four games starting with the bi-district loss to Lincoln. It’ll return its entire roster for next season; Prairie has zero seniors.
“It’s not the outcome they wanted,” coach Hala Corral said. “, but we’ll be back here next year.”
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STANWOOD 49, PRAIRIE 45
Stan 12 8 14 15 – 49
Pra 13 11 10 11 – 45
STANWOOD — Kayla Frazier 5, Julian Heichel 16, Kaitlin Larson 6, Madison Chrisman 12, Ashley Alter 10, Shelby Lund 0, Madison Plautz 0, Koa Beck 0. Totals 17 (1) 14-18 49.
PRAIRIE — Allie Corral 2, Brooke Walling 27, Mallory Williams 7, Cassidy Gardner 2, Haley Reed 2, Meri Dunford 5, Sydney Weber 0, Lauren Vreeken 0. Totals 14 (4) 13-16 45.
