The possibility of a three-way tie for third place in 3A Greater St. Helens League boys basketball became a bit closer to reality on Wednesday night.
Bailey Kousonsavath and Bryson Jones both scored 19 points as the Prairie Falcons beat the visiting Evergreen Plainsmen 65-57.
Prairie (5-15, 2-6 3A GSHL) still sits at the bottom of the league, but Evergreen (7-13, 2-5) and Heritage (7-12, 2-5) are hovering just above with one league game to play.
With the way Prairie played on Wednesday, the Falcons showed they might not be done just yet.
“We rebounded and played well defensively,” Prairie coach Jimmy Tuominen said. “We got on a lot of loose balls and just grinded away.”
Tuominen credited Jones and Cam Newsome, who had 12 points, for making big 3-pointers in the second half and the team shooting 8 for 10 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter as keys to victory.
Landon Rayner led Evergreen in scoring with 19 points, and Tae Lee had 12 points.
Prairie has concluded its regular season. So on Friday, it comes down to Kelso at Evergreen, and Heritage hosting Mountain View to determine playoff seeds or which teams are headed to a tiebreaker next week.
KELSO 76, HERITAGE 38 — The Hilanders remained tied with Mountain View atop the 3A GSHL at 6-1 with the win over visiting Heritage.
Kelso led 43-21 at halftime, forcing 16 Heritage turnovers.
LA CENTER 76, COLUMBIA WHITE-SALMON 45 — A 25-9 second quarter by the Wildcats broke the Trico League game open as La Center went on to win.
The Wildcats are now tied with Seton Catholic for second place, both 6-2, with one league game remaining Friday.
La Center, which is at Castle Rock on Friday, and Seton, which hosts Stevenson, split their two games against each other.
Boston Walker scored 12 of his team-high 16 points in the second quarter for La Center.
Colby Hylton added 13 points, and Logan Rainey had 12.
Columbia (7-8, 2-7) was led in scoring by Spencer Karlson’s 16 points.
CASTLE ROCK 58, STEVENSON 44 — Trystin Marin and James Montgomery each scored 16 points and Chase Rusher added 12 as the Rockets (8-9, 4-5) won the Trico League matchup at Stevenson.
The Bulldogs (10-7, 2-7) got 10 points each from Kacen Bach and Jordan Waymire.
Girls basketball
HERITAGE 55, KELSO 53 — The Timberwolves put Kelso into a must-win situation Friday with their 3A GSHL victory.
Jaila Ellis and Mariah Bibens each scored 16 points as Heritage (11-8, 3-4) outlasted visiting Kelso with a big fourth-quarter effort.
The Timberwolves entered the fourth down 39-28. Ellis, a freshman, scored 13 of her points in the fourth as Heritage took the lead with about 3:30 to play.
Kelso found itself down 10 with about a minute to go and got the deficit down to two points with free throws, a 3-pointer by Bregan Ruhland and a last-second 3 by Madison Lee.
Kelso (8-10, 3-5) now must win its final regular-season game against Evergreen for a chance to make the postseason.
McKenzie Milligan led Kelso with a career-high 17 points.
