Prairie boys rout Mountain View for ninth consecutive win

BRUSH PRAIRIE – The Prairie boys basketball team just made its path toward the postseason a little clearer on Monday night.

But don’t blame the Falcons if they aren’t looking that far ahead.

Zeke Dixson scored 18 points and Kameron Osborn added 17 as the Falcons clinched at least the No. 2 seed to the 3A bi-district tournament with a 71-46 win over Mountain View in a 3A Greater St. Helens League game.

“Right now, we take it week by week,” Dixson said. “That’s what we’re good at. We’re not looking forward. We’re not looking like deep in the playoffs. We’re looking at next game. So our next game against (Hudson’s ) Bay, we’re getting ready with that scouting report.”

The No. 2 seed from the 3A GSHL will open the 3A bi-district tournament with a home game in the first round on Feb. 6.

However, the league’s No. 1 seed will host a game on Feb. 8 in the quarterfinals. The Falcons still have hopes of securing that spot, but that would require one more win Wednesday against Hudson’s Bay combined with a Kelso loss at Mountain View.

“I don’t really expect Kelso to lose,” Prairie coach Kyle Brooks said. “They are a really good that is playing really well. But it is Mountain View’s senior night, so you never know.”

Prairie left little doubt on its own senior night on Monday.

After Mountain View tied the game 10-10 on Kaden Horn’s 3-pointer, Prairie finished the first quarter on a 15-4 run. The Falcons would score the first 10 points of the second quarter to push their advantage to 35-14.

The Thunder would get no closer than 16 points the rest of the way.

“I thought we did a really good job of defending on their shooters,” Brooks said. “We gave up some inside points early, but that No. 22 (Horn) can really score when he gets hot.”

Prairie limited Horn to a pair of 3-pointers and six points.

“I also thought AJ and Zeke (Dixson) did a great job of rebounding, which limited their opportunities,” Brooks said.

Zeke Dixson had all 15 of his 18 points in the first half as Prairie built a 47-25 lead.

The win was the Falcons’ ninth in a row. Prairie’s last loss came on Dec. 28 in the Cactus Jam tournament in Scottsdale, Ariz.

“The flip switch (for us) was team chemistry, definitely,” Dixson said. “We went to Arizona, and all team chemistry. Now we got it, so we’re just rolling.”

Brooks added: “We’ve just been getting better with every game, and that’s how you want to be playing right now.”

The news wasn’t all bad for Mountain View on Monday. Fort Vancouver’s loss to Kelso clinched the No.3 playoff spot for the Thunder. Mountain View will travel next week to play the No. 3 team from the South Sound Conference.

Before that, they can help out Prairie with a win over Kelso on Wednesday to close league play.

If the Falcons don’t get that help from Mountain View, they’ll be happy to just keep the wins coming.

“We let one get away from us against Evergreen in the beginning of the season, but we’ll be happy with getting second if it gets us that home game in the first playoff game,” Dixson said. “So we’re good.”

PRAIRIE 71, MOUNTAIN VIEW 46

MOUNTAIN VIEW – Colby Smith 6, Makai Anderson 7, Austin Lee 0, Trevor Binder 2, Mason Wulf 5, Jordan Cook 3, Kai Christensen 3, Ethan Blanchard 1, Eba Abu 0, Sam Frosh 3, Devin Velott 7, Kaden Horn 6, Rodolfo Montiel 3. Totals 16 (5) 8-12 46.
PRAIRIE – Aidan Fraly 9, Kameron Osborn 17, AJ Dixson 6, Zeke Dixson 18, Thomas Hapgood 3, Mark Frazier 1, Gabe Lily 2, Hayden Rose 0, Brady Gagnon 4, Bronson King 11, Reece Walling 0. Totals 30 (4) 7-14 71..

Mtn. View           14           11           12           9—46

Prairie   25           22           14           10—71