Pirates find their course, defeat Kubs to advance to district championship
Feb. 4—What had been a low-scoring and defensive encounter for the better part of three quarters turned into an intense shootout in the latter stages as the second-seeded Prairie Pirates of Cottonwood took on the No. 3 Kamiah Kubs in Idaho Class 1A Division I girls basketball tournament semifinal action at Lewiston High School on Saturday.
Prairie, which had trailed most of the game, ultimately surged to a 45-39 victory, booking a spot in the championship round against perennial rival Lapwal.
Getting their engines going
The Pirates (16-6) went cold in the late second and early third quarters, finding themselves in a 20-14 hole after Emma Krogh of Kamiah (15-7) converted a layup on the Kubs' first possession out of intermission. Around five minutes of play passed without Prairie moving the scoreboard — a stretch during which the Kubs put an emphasis on locking down the hoop on the inside, leaving the Pirates to resort to 3-point attempts without success. After Lexi Schumacher finally sunk a deep 3 to make it 20-17 about two minutes into the third, Kamiah switched gears to a full-court press, and Prairie found its way back inside for a pair of baskets from Sage Elven and Schumacher to pull ahead 21-20.
From there, the teams rapidly traded leads for the rest of that frame and into the fourth. Back-to-back deep 3s from Schumacher midway through the fourth quarter gave the Pirates their first multiple-possession lead of the game at 35-31. A traditional three-point play from Krogh brought it back to 35-34, but Schumacher responded immediately by taking the ball all the way from one end of the court to the other for a hook shot on the fast break to move it to 37-34. The Pirates led the rest of the way, ultimately entering the game's closing stages up 43-39.
"I think we played super-tentative the first half," said Prairie coach Lori Mader, who felt that Schumacher's run of clutch baskets "kind of got our engines going."
Adjustment pays dividends
Schumacher bricked a pair of potential insurance free throws with 11.6 seconds remaining in regulation, but the ensuing rebound was snagged by Elven, who sent the ball right back to Schumacher, and another foul immediately sent her back to the line. This time, both free throws were right on the mark, all but erasing any doubt as to the game's outcome with a six-point gap at 45-39 and only 6.4 seconds left to play.
"I thought I needed to back up, because my last two hit the back of the rim, and so then I just backed up," Schumacher said of the correction that enabled her to find her range.
Kamiah failed to get a shot off before the buzzer in the game's final possession.
Players of note
Schumacher finished with a game-high 19 points. Elven had the most complete performance of the night, totaling 11 points, eight rebounds and six steals.
The Pirates, who had struggled to maintain a .500 record early in the season, have now won 10 consecutive games, including a noteworthy 51-43 upset over Lapwai in the teams' most recent meeting. Elven's emergence as a leader in the second half of the season has been a signicant factor in that increased success.
"I feel like in practice, I just started to get what I needed to do, and then it just started clicking for me in games," the sophomore said.
Laney Landmark's "hustle up and down the court" was described by coach Brandon Skinner as a key asset for Kamiah, and she led the Kubs with her own 11 points.
Up next
Kamiah will return to action in consolation play Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. against Troy, while Prairie takes on No. 1 Lapwai (another team with which it has split meetings this season) in the title game on Thursday at 7:30 p.m., both back at Lewiston High.
PRAIRIE (16-6)
Lexi Schumacher 7 2-4 19, Sydney Shears 1 0-0 2, Hailey Hanson 1 2-2 4, Alli Geis 0 0-0 0, Sage Elven 5 1-3 11, Kylie Schumacher 3 3-4 9. Totals 17 8-13 45.
KAMIAH (15-7)
Emma Krogh 3 1-1 7, Laney Landmark 4 2-2 11, Reesa Loewen 0 0-0 0, Kelsee Hunt 2 0-0 5, Mariah Porter 1 1-2 3, Karlee Skinner 3 0-0 9, Ashlyn Schoening 2 0-1 4. Totals 15 4-6 39.
Prairie 10 4 11 20—45
Kamiah 10 8 8 13—39
3-point goals — L. Schumacher 3, Skinner 3, Landmark, Hunt.
Wendt may be contacted at cwendt@lmtribune.com or at (208) 848-2258.
