Prairie girls eliminated by Garfield

BELLEVUE — The players on the Prairie girls basketball team will do everything in their power to flush Saturday from memory. For many, it was their final high school basketball game, a disappointing 78-29 defeat to Garfield in a 3A State Regional at Sammamish High School.

Instead, Prairie will try to reflect on the positives of this season. Entering the year, the expectation was the Falcons would slip. The defending 3A State champions lost four of its five starters and had just three players with varsity experience.

The Falcons had other plans. They rattled off another perfect 3A Greater St. Helens League season en route to their 23rd straight league crown and 23rd straight state appearance. And they did so without any future Division I basketball stars.

“We continued our legacy,” said senior Meri Dunford, who led Prairie with 10 points and 13 rebounds. “For me, that’s really special and I’m proud of our team for doing that especially because we had some doubters at the beginning of the season. We really came together and did the best we could.”

Coach Hala Corral isn’t shy about saying this team had the most fun of any team in recent memory. Even after Saturday’s crushing defeat, the team still smiled as they exited the locker room, albeit after a 30-minute cooling off period away from public eyes.

“I’m just so happy to coach these girls,” Corral said. “They’re all really good kids.”

The Falcons’ season ends at 14-10. For five seniors, including starters Dayna Vera, Meri Dunford, Allison Corral and Kylie Diaz, it was the end of their time with Prairie basketball. The Falcons pride themselves on culture. It’s scrawled across their warmup shirts. And while that culture has always been present at Prairie, this year’s group set a different standard.

“I’m just proud of the kids,” coach Corral said. “I had a long talk with the juniors and told them the legacy is in their hands.”

On Saturday, Garfield jumped to a 12-0 lead, and eventually went on a 29-0 first-half run to spell the end of Prairie’s season. Meghan Fiso paced Garfield with 21 points and Cari Davis added 16. California commit Dalayah Daniels was limited to seven points and 10 rebounds.

“It really just shows that we’re just all good kids, good friends,” Dunford said of the season. “When it comes down to it, we all just love the sport and want to do well.”

GARFIELD 78, PRAIRIE 29

PRAIRIE (14-10) — Dayna Vera 8, Meri Dunford 10, Allie Corral 3, Trinity Perrin 0, Kaitlyn Caughey 2, Kylia Caesar 0, Anna Neal 0, Lauren Sautter 0, Kori Clark 2, Claire Heitschmidt 3, Hannah Clouse 1, Kylie Diaz 0. Totals 8-43 (4-15) 9-12 29.

GARFIELD (19-7) — Naveah Talbert 10, Saniya Rahman 1, Dalayah Daniels 7, Lucy Richardson 2, Kiana Davis 0, Kamia Crudup 3, Meghan Fiso 21, Desiree Lane 3, Kareyna Taylor 4, Cari Davis 16, Kira Wood 11. Totals 28-58 (13-29) 9-14 78.

Prairie 10 3 6 10—29

Garfield 23 26 11 18—78