Mount Spokane girls rally to beat Prairie

Coach David Pratt says there are 11 things that make up the complete Mount Spokane girls basketball player.

If you were just watching any of the 3A tournament games, most would suggest 3-point shooting was at the top of the list.

Pratt smiled at that notion.

“It is resiliency,” Pratt said.

Nobody could argue that at the end of the Wildcats’ come-from-behind 58-50 victory over 3A powerhouse Prairie in a loser-out game Friday in the Tacoma Dome.

With that win, Mount Spokane (15-11) has secured a state trophy in its first trip to the state championships in school history.

Aspyn Adams lit it up for the Wildcats, scoring all 14 of her points in the fourth quarter, including four 3-pointers.

The ninth-grade guard’s last one from the top of the arc gave the Wildcats a 54-50 advantage with 1:02 to go.

“I just focused on the rim,” Adams said. “I was a little bit rattled (early on), and in the second half, I calmed myself down.”

This was a matchup where the 3-point shot was a premium weapon. Of the 104 combined field goal attempts, 71 were 3-pointers.

At least Pratt noticed the Wildcats were missing their attempts early on – they were 2 of 14 in the first half.

“I told our girls, ‘Look at halftime, you were 2 of 14, and at some point as players you have to look at each other and ask can we stop shooting 3-pointers for a while and get it inside?’

They did that in the second half, and then we got back to shooting (3-pointers) – and they were going in.”

Prairie (21-6) held a 33-19 lead early in the second half before going cold from the field. Meanwhile the Wildcats made nine 3-pointers after halftime.

For a second consecutive season, the Falcons went two-and-out at the Tacoma Dome.

This story was originally published March 4, 2016 at 2:14 PM with the headline "Mount Spokane girls rally to beat Prairie."