Culture is queen (the king crossed out) is scrawled across the Prairie girls basketball warmup shirts. The Falcons have long featured future Division I basketball players and elite area talent.
This year’s iteration is showing the backbone all along, in the midst of 22 consecutive league titles, was its processes and work ethic.
The Falcons completed the first half of the 3A Greater St. Helens League season undefeated (8-6, 5-0) with a 57-44 win over Hudson’s Bay on Tuesday.
They don’t boast any future Division I basketball players. Their leading scorer Tuesday, Meri Dunford (17 points), is a cross country star.
“We have lots of good kids but we don’t have anyone that’s going to go D-I, probably,” Dunford said. “So really we’ve learned that if we’re going to win, we have to play as a team.”
Prairie’s reign is historic. Tuesday was the Falcons’ 213th consecutive league victory. Their last loss came on Jan. 31, 2000. None of the players on the current roster were alive then.
“We’re in a good environment where excellence is expected and hard work is expected,” Dunford said. “It’s fun and exciting to think we can continue on that tradition.”
That streak may put pressure on most teams. The Falcons have found the reverse is true. It’s their opponents, eager to finally dethrone Prairie, that are pushing too hard.
“All the pressure is on them because you all have hyped them up, saying they’re the best team,” coach Hala Corral said. “For us, it’s just another game. We’re just coming and playing hard.”
Prairie has five games remaining in the 3A GSHL this season. A sweep would make it 23 straight league titles and 218 consecutive league wins.
Then the Falcons will again graduate the bulk of their starting lineup, just as they did when four starters departed from last season’s 3A State championship squad.
But if history’s any indication, the Falcons will have no trouble reloading.
