BRUSH PRAIRIE – The Evergreen Plainsmen took a little bit of 2023 into their first game of 2024 on Tuesday night.
Evergreen earned a bit of revenge on Prairie by fending off the Falcons 71-67 in a 3A Greater St. Helens League boys basketball game at Prairie.
“I’d say it’s definitely a huge win,” senior Arthur Ban said. “Obviously, it’s league before anything, before any rivalries or anything. It’s always a league game, and that is what’s going to get us to the playoffs. Every league game we win is huge. But with them sending us back last year, we knew we had to come in and make a statement.”
Prairie ended Evergreen’s season last year in a league tiebreaker. And the Falcons looked like they might spoil Evergreen’s 2024 debut when they jumped out to an early 8-0 lead.
But Evergreen responded with a 14-0 run of its own as the Plainsmen took control in the second quarter.
“We’re better when we’re the first to punch, though,” Evergreen coach Brett Henry said. “But they did a really good job of settling down and getting back to the rhythm that we want to play. That’s the speed we want to play.”
The Plainsmen would push their lead to as many as 10 points in the second quarter.
Even after Prairie rallied – taking a 51-50 lead late in the third quarter – the Plainsmen responded.
Kai Speer’s 3-pointer right before the end of the quarter put Evergreen back in front to stay. Dez Daniel then scored 11 of his game-high 25 points in the fourth quarter to seal the win.
Solomon Ogbeama scored 19 points to lead four players in double figures for Prairie, which was left to lament several missed free throws which thwarted the Falcons’ comeback attempt.
The Plainsmen also got 14 from Ban, who carried the load inside as Evergreen was without senior post Fox Crader. Crader is participating in the All-American Bowl high school football showcase in Texas this weekend.
“I think we need to keep our chemistry,” Daniel said. “We have people out right now. Fox is out right now. He’s a big piece for us at 6-7.”
Given the fact that the Plainsmen rotate so many different players into the lineup, keeping team chemistry is keep to Evergreen’s success.
The Plainsmen got to work that last week at the T-Town Throwdown tournament at Tacoma, even though they dropped two of three games.
“It was definitely a good thing for bonding,” Ban said. “I feel like 100 percent we got closer with our guys. We had some ups and downs. But it was a great opportunity to get us ready for these types of games and when we’re in the playoffs, because that’s the trajectory we’re planning to go on.”
Daniel added: “It was great team bonding. We got closer. We started out 0-2 but we came out with a (win in their last game), and that helped us coming into this game.”
Tuesday’s win improved Evergreen to 3-0 in the 3A GSHL ahead of key matchup at home on Friday against Kelso.
“We feel like we’re in a great spot,” Henry said. “We’re 3-0 and playing without Fox. We’re 3-0 when most teams in the league haven’t even played two league games. We’re in a good spot, and we’re hoping to keep that going.”
