As any visiting team can attest to, winning in Kelso’s gym can be a challenge.
“We like to say that when we step off the bus, we’re already down 12 points,” said Jimmy Tuominen, Prairie boys basketball interim head coach.
The Falcons played like a team trying to erase a 12-point deficit Tuesday at Kelso, going on a 19-3 run late to pull away from the Hilanders for a 67-41 victory.
“We worked a lot of our zone offense, because we thought that might be something they’d throw at us,” Tuominen said. “I thought we did a good job with our spacing and ball movement, and we were hitting shots early that really opened things up inside that allowed us to attack the rim.”
Zeke Dixson and Aidan Fraly led the Falcons with 16 points each. AJ Dixson added 10 points as Prairie got contributions from up and down its roster.
“We’ve been focusing in practice on team, team, team and just sharing the ball, hitting open 3s,” Zeke Dixson said. “And we’re getting way better at shooting coming off screens.”
Zeke Dixson, Fraly, Jimmie Barton and Brady Gagnon each hit a pair of 3-pointers as the Falcons now can turn their attention on locking up a postseason berth.
With the win, Prairie improved to 5-2 in the 3A Greater St. Helens with three league games to play. The Falcons can clinch a berth to the bi-district tournament with a win at home against Fort Vancouver on Friday.
In fact, if Prairie wins Friday and first-place Evergreen also wins at Kelso, the top two seeds to the bi-district will be locked in, with the Plainsmen (7-0 in league) at No. 1 and Prairie No. 2.
In the bi-district tournament, the No. 1 team from the 3A GSHL will get a first-round bye and host a quarterfinal game. The No. 2 team will host a first-round game.
So after Friday, Evergreen and Prairie could be playing next week simply to prepare for bi-district and improving their RPI ranking.
“We just have to focus on our team, focus on winning these next three games, and getting the second seed in the playoff, then getting a win at home,” Zeke Dixson said.
