Prairie’s Carson Morningstar shined with 25 points and multiple dunks in the Falcons’ 79-36 win over Hudson’s Bay High School to conclude nonleague play on Friday, Jan. 3.
Falcons head coach Jimmy Tuominen was pleased with the performance to kick off the new year, especially because the bench accumulated significant minutes in the win.
“I think it’s huge experience, right? There’s certainly going to be opportunities as we go here into the league games where they’re going to have to play significant minutes where it’s going to be really important that they are able to execute and do well,” Tuominen said of his bench players. “So this is a great opportunity to get some more tape on them and then give them some more game experience that’ll be beneficial for us down the road.”
The Falcons have three seniors on the roster, but just one played in the starting lineup during the game against Hudson’s Bay. Riley Burke, the lone starting senior plays an impact role among the young core of scorers.
“I think we’re about right where I thought we would be,” Tuominen said of utilizing the young core. “I think there were a couple of games that we looked at where some of our inexperience kind of showed … but I think we’re in a good spot right now. I think we’re battle tested, and we’ve learned a little bit from those close games. So hopefully that’ll help us as we move into the league here in January.”
The big win helped the Falcons cap off the first portion of the league at an even .500. Tuominen said the Falcons experienced some “terribly tough” competition over the winter break in Seattle, so the 43-point margin of victory felt good getting back to the winning column.
The Falcons sit at 5-5 heading into the start of the 3A Greater St. Helens League season.
“It’s a pretty tough league, you know. Kelso’s the champion from last year, and you know, when you go to their place, it’s always tough,” Tuominen said. “Mountain View, Evergreen look really good, too. Heritage can certainly sneak up on people. So it’s going to be a pretty tough league. I think whoever is able to come out and win those first three seeds is going to have a pretty good opportunity, playoff wise, heading up north.”
Prairie started league play with a road matchup at Kelso High School on Tuesday, Jan. 7, but results were unavailable as of press time. The Falcons next host Reynolds High School, from Troutdale, Oregon, for a nonleague matchup at 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 10.
