There was no secret signal or code word.
There was no special plan to get Dante Heitschmidt the ball.
Instead, Kam Osborn just knew.
The point guard knew where his teammate was on the court. He knew his teammate had the hot hand.
And it wasn’t long into Prairie’s 87-41 win over Hudson’s Bay on Friday that Osborn knew Heitschmidt was a key to victory. He had 30 points, including six 3-pointers, as Prairie improved to 2-0 in the 3A Greater St. Helens League.
“I’ve been playing with Dante for four to five years now,” Osborn said. “Really, I just know where he is. I know when he’s getting hot, so I try to get him the ball.”
Prairie won its sixth straight game on Friday. Since a loss to Union on Dec. 13, Prairie has outscored its opponents by an average of 75-43.
A key to that run has been the high-scoring tandem of Osborn and Heitschmidt. Osborn entered Friday as Clark County’s leading scorer, averaging 22 points over 10 games. He scored 37 in Prairie’s league opener Wednesday against Evergreen.
Friday was Heitschmidt’s turn to catch fire.
“It was fun,” he said. “I was getting shots from all over the place. My teammates were getting me the ball when they had the opportunity to. It was good to knock down the shots and give them the assists too.”
Osborn scored 14 points, making all 10 of his free throws. He didn’t need to carry the scoring load on Friday. Instead, the junior made his mark with crisp passes, often to Heitschmidt behind the three-point line.
“He’s just a really good facilitator,” Heitschmidt said of Osborn. “He can do it all — driver, rebounder, shooter. He’s good, there’s no other way to put it.”
Heitschmidt, who now averages 17.8 points per game, had a four-point play that gave Prairie a 32-10 lead with five minutes left in the second quarter.
From there, the Falcons never let up. Ten players scored in a game where Prairie’s dominance was broad and thorough.
“We talked to them about embracing their role, whatever their role is on the team, then carrying it out and doing their job,” coach Kyle Brooks said. “Guys are willing to do that, and that has been our biggest thing.”
Hudson’s Bay (7-4, 0-2) started league play with games against Kelso and Prairie, two teams picked to vie for league title. Eli Hoover had nine points and Quadrese Teague added eight for the Eagles.
PRAIRIE 87, HUDSON’S BAY 41
HUDSON’S BAY – Carter Morse 0, Demareya Gipson 6, Julio Vara 0, Quadrese Teague 8, Eli Hoover 9, Nathan Buslach 2, Nicholas Campbell 0, Eric Ryapolov 6, Marcus Cadiz 5, Travion Weiss 5. Totals 14 (8) 5-11 41.
PRAIRIE – Dante Heitschmidt 30, Kam Osborn 14, Braiden Brodbent 6, Zeke Dixson 3, Thomas Hapgood 6, Nate Milspaugh 4, Kaleb Locke 0, A.J. Dixson 8, Logan Reed 2, Bronson King 0, Everett Buck 3, Matthew Kogler 11. Totals 28 (9) 22-26 87.
Hudson’s Bay 7 10 13 11–41
Prairie 23 23 26 15–87
JV – Prairie 58-33.
