Feb. 8—There was little in the way of surprises on Saturday at Lewiston High School as the Prairie Pirates of Cottonwood and Lapwai Wildcats — top seeds and perennial rivals — delivered tour de force Class 2A Whitepine League girls basketball district tournament semifinal performances.
The Pirates of Cottonwood dispatched the Kamiah Kubs 50-27 in a game that saw senior leader Sage Elven pass the thousand-career point threshold, then the Lapwai Wildcats got a dozen players on the board in the nightcap as they thrashed the Troy Trojans 83-29 to set the stage for the final everyone expected. Top-seeded Prairie and second-seeded Lapwai will meet with the title on the line at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday back at Lewiston High.
In consolation play on Monday, Troy meets Kendrick at 6 p.m. and Kamiah faces Potlatch at 7:30 p.m., also at Lewiston.
Pirates cruise past Kubs
Fourth-seeded Kamiah (12-10) had played Prairie (18-4) close in the teams' most recent league encounter, with the Pirates coming out on top 34-28.
If that result gave the Kubs hope for a potential upset, Prairie set right to work extinguishing it, shooting out to a 15-2 lead over the first 10 minutes of play.
Kamiah enjoyed a slight resurgence midway through the second quarter, capped off with a long-range 3-pointer from Emma Krogh to bring things to 19-8. Sensing the possible shift in momentum, first-year Pirates coach Teel Bruner called a pivotal timeout.
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"The theme of the timeout was, 'Let's finish the half,'" Bruner explained. "We've had some times this year when we've not finished quarters."
The team responded in style. Kylie Schumacher sent a long pass to Sage Elven for a layup with just under two minutes remaining in the first half, then Elven immediately intercepted an inbounds pass and scored again. Prairie would extend its run to 11 consecutive points, ending on a Hailey Hanson 3-pointer that made it 30-8 at halftime.
The Pirates would cool down enough after intermission for the Kubs to keep pace, but never to meaningfully cut the deficit.
Krogh did most of the day's scoring for Kamiah, finishing with 15 points. The College of Idaho signee was the target of strong defensive focus that held her to only two field goal conversions, but she had a solid 10-of-15 free-throw performance to help compensate.
"Sydney Shears just does a great job trying to defend (Krogh)," Bruner said. "It's undescribable how much she means to us as a defender. She just is huge as a defender. That's kind of our calling card; we try to defend like crazy."
Shears also knocked down a pair of field goals — the second a swished 3-pointer — to add five points to the Pirate ledger.
Elven, who had entered with 998 career points, led all scorers with 17 in the game to bring her total to 1,015. She added seven steals to her ledger along the way.
Schumacher had a double-double of 16 points and 14 rebounds while tallying four blocks and four assists.
Wildcats pounce on Trojans
The first semifinal may have been one-sided, but the second was without question the greater rout. Lapwai (21-1) forced turnover after turnover and seemed to score on every fast break for long stretches of play, often covering long distances with ambitious downcourt passes that paid off.
The Wildcats' point total was tied for their second highest of the season, and the showing extended their current winning streak to 11 games — the last seven all coming by margins of more than 30 points.
"The best part tonight was every single person on the bench scored," Lapwai coach Lori Mader said. "I just feel like it's good when everybody can be involved and be part of it."
Troy (10-12) got eight players on the board itself, but none managed more than Emma Wells' eight points.
The Wildcats' Madden Bisbee loomed large from column to column on the stat sheet with 21 points, nine assists, seven steals and six rebounds.
"She runs the floor well; she sets her team up well; she's the most unselfish player that exists," Mader said of Bisbee.
Lois Oatman put up another 15 points for Lapwai (21-1), and Cavell Samuels reached double figures as well at 11. As a team, the Wildcats had 36 rebounds, 21 assists and 20 steals while conceding only seven turnovers.
A fated final
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Mader will be coaching in the District II girls basketball final for a remarkable 16th consecutive year, but this will be her first time ever opposing the Pirates rather than steering their ship.
She watched her team lose the championship game more often than not during her 15-year tenure as Prairie coach, but oversaw a victory in last year's district final before a series of well-chronicled events resulted in her change of allegiance.
"We both have different styles we play, and to say one's better than the other ... I can't say that," Mader said of the two teams. "I think we both respect each other, and we're just going to bring our best games on Tuesday, and the chips are going to fall as they fall — and obviously, I hope they fall my way."
This year, Lapwai and Prairie split their two regular-season league meetings, with each inflicting a painful home-court defeat on the other. The Wildcats prevailed 56-49 in the teams' first encounter this season on Dec. 2, while the Pirates struck back in style with a 62-39 showing on Jan. 15, resulting in a tie for the top spot in league standings.
"I think we just need to play together," Schumacher said of Prairie's approach to Tuesday's final. "We know how to; we just need to keep going forward, and not have any fear from Lapwai."
On the Wildcats' end, Bisbee expressed confidence while acknowledging that it could be anyone's game.
"We've been playing them for a long time, so I guess we know their personnel, so I guess it's going to be whoever wants it more at this point," she said. "I want it a lot."
Prairie 50, Kamiah 27
KAMIAH (12-10)
Emma Krogh 2 10-15 15, Rainbow Moses 1 2-2 5, 1 1-2 3, Emily 1 0-0 2, Jackie Davis 0 0-0 0, Layla Williams 0 0-0 0, Audrey Puckett 1 0-0 2, Kaylynn Wisdom 0 0-0 0. Totlas 6 13-19 27.
PRAIRIE (18-4)
Kennedy Riener 0 0-0 0, Zoey Behler 0 0-0 0, Sydney Shears 2 0-2 5, Hailey Hanson 1 2-2 5, Lillian Rehder 0 1-4 1, Aubree Riener 0 0-0 0, Erica Schlader 0 0-0 0, Halee Rowland 1 0-0 2, Beka Schumacher 1 0-0 2, Faith Cash 0 0-0 0, Reagan Brannan 0 2-2 2, Sage Elven 8 1-1 17, Kylie Schumacher 7 2-5 16, Blake Uhlenkott 0 0-0 0, Alli Rambo 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 8-16 50.
Prairie 11 19 10 10—50
Kamiah 2 6 8 11—27
3-point goals — Shears, Hanson, Krogh, Moses.
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Lapwai 83, Troy 29
TROY (10-12)
Jennie Webb 0 0-0 0, Clara Chamberlin 0 5-7 5, Tessa Stoner 2 0-1 4, Izzy Harris 0 1-1 1, Lyla Moser 0 0-0 0, Briar Wilson 0 2-2 2, Emma Abbott 1 0-0 3, Lydia Ward 0 0-0 0, Hailey Rodgers 2 1-2 5, Emma Wilson 3 2-4 8, Maddison Blazzard 0 1-2 1. Totals 8 12-22 29.
LAPWAI (21-1)
Abreann Yearout 2 0-0 4, Ella Payne 1 0-1 2, Cavell Samuels 5 1-1 11, Skylin Picard 2 2-2 7, Jaleia Sonneck 3 0-0 6, Tianna Wheeler 3 1-2 7, Paisley McCormack 1 0-0 2, Lois Oatman 6 3-6 15, Jennilia WhiteTemple 2 0-0 4, Taya Yearout 1 0-0 2, Roni Arthur 1 0-0 2, Madden Bisbee 8 4-4 21. Totals 35 11-19 83.
Troy 5 6 9 9—29
Lapwai 27 21 29 6—83
3-point goals — Abbott, Picard, Bisbee.
Wendt may be contacted at (208) 848-2268, or cwendt@lmtribune.com.
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