Prep Girls Basketball Roundup: Reports and scores from The Blast Zone

Home Defense — Kelso rallies past Prairie; and the rest of the weekend action

A basketball rests near center court of a gymnasium within the sprawling confines of the Blast Zone, just waiting for another opportunity to be dribbled, dribbled, passed, shot. – Jordan Nailon / Blast Zone Media

Jordan Nailon / blastzonenews@gmail.com

Champagne, Johnson lead Lassies comeback over Prairie

The Kelso girls basketball team was on the record as looking forward to a big Friday night league matchup in front of their home fans. After a grueling stretch of road games, and a couple of home dates they’d rather forget about, the Hilanders were excited to be back on the big K Court to get the second half of league play underway.

And then they came out with all the bounce of a basketball that was left outside in the cold, rain and snow. Before all the fans could get settled in their seats Kelso trailed 11-1 and the outlook for a celebratory dinner at Denny’s looked grim. But it turns out the Lassies just wanted the blue and gold faithful to get their money’s worth for their tickets.

By the end of a thrilling 3A Greater St. Helens League affair Kelso had stormed all the way back for a thrilling 70-66 victory over the Falcons. It was a performance Rocky Balboa would have approved of if it had been a prize fight.

“There’s just something about Kelso; we seem to like to get down by 10, and take a punch or two before we decide we’re ready to play,” Kelso coach Andrew Johnson said.

And it was Peyton Champagne and Hayden Johnson who did the heaviest lifting to get the Lassies all the way up the steps while Eye of the Tiger played in the background.