<I>The Eagle/David Heldreth</I><BR>Prairie City's Tel WInegar trys to pull a rebound away from a Burnt River player during a game last Friday. Prairie City won 67-43.

PRAIRIE CITY – The Prairie City boys basketball team stayed one step ahead of Harper this weekend.

In the standings, Prairie City had a slight lead on Harper going into last weekend. The Panthers were 7-5 in the High Desert League while the Hornets were 7-7. They needed a win to guarantee themselves fifth place in league, and a game against the fourth place team in the HDL.

The Panthers sealed their fifth-place finish with a 67-43 win against Burnt River on Friday, Feb. 8. They will play Adrian in the first round of the 1A District 8 tournament at 2:45 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 14.

Both Prairie City and Adrian “are four and five so we’ll be playing on Thursday, and that’s right where we want to be,” Prairie City coach Ryan Gerry said. “I feel we match up well. We have some more height, but they’re quick.”

The Panthers came out quick on Friday, taking a 13-0 lead in the first four minutes of the game.

Dylan Hendriksen led the charge with 10 of the 13 points hitting two 3-pointers, a layup and two free throws. Brandon Crisler hit a 3-pointer of his own during the run. Hendriksen added three more free throws to earn 13 points in the first quarter alone. Prairie City led 24-5 going into the second quarter, and 37-15 at halftime.

Prairie City’s trio continued their streak of double-digit games this weekend. Hendriksen ended the game with 21 points, nine rebounds and six steals. Crisler had 16 points and nine rebounds, and George Wickhorst earned 13 points, five steals and five assists.

“Dylan and Brandon started off pretty good and finished strong,” Wickhorst said. “Dylan gets us to play better. Even though he is hitting shots he gets us all involved.”

Prairie City continued to dominate in the second half. The Panthers added to their lead through the third quarter and were up 66-32 midway into the fourth quarter. The Bulls fought back late in the fourth quarter and went on a 11-1 run. However, Prairie City had primarily substitutes in the game by that point. Despite the last second stand Burnt River lost the game.

The Panthers dropped their final game of the regular season 65-31 to Spray on Saturday, Feb. 9.