‘Wise-Guy’ duo orchestrates Jefferson rally

CEDAR RAPIDS - Jason Edwards preached, and the Jefferson J-Hawks followed.

A Wise-Guy backcourt tandem ignited a fourth-quarter rally, and Cedar Rapids Jefferson fought past Cedar Rapids Prairie, 43-35, in a Class 5A girls' basketball regional quarterfinal Wednesday night at Jefferson High School.

'I think we finally heard what Coach was saying,” said Avery Guy, who combined with Kylie Wise to score 13 points in a game-closing 19-6 run as the J-Hawks rallied from a five-point deficit. 'We decided we want to keep playing.”

Jefferson (8-14) travels to Pleasant Hill on Saturday for a semifinal against No. 6 Southeast Polk. The Rams (15-6) earned a first-round bye.

It was the first postseason win in Edwards' three seasons as the J-Hawks' head coach.

With Jefferson trailing by a point as the fourth quarter began, Edwards became vocal and animated as the J-Hawks huddled.

'We've been through too much (to give up)!” he yelled. 'We've been through too much!”

Edwards said afterward: 'My dad's a preacher. I try to find whatever button I need to push. I might not be a great X-and-O guy, but I pride myself in being able to motivate kids.

'There's no place I'd rather go than to Southeast Polk with these kids.”

Jefferson had lost 11 of 13 games following the departure of all-stater Amanda Ollinger, and appeared to be on the verge of a quiet postseason exit.

But the J-Hawks hit 5 of 6 shots from the field in the fourth quarter, and 9 of 10 free throws.

'(Edwards' speech) lit a fire inside us,” Wise said.

Prairie (4-18) held a 29-24 lead with 5 minutes to play. But Wise drilled a 3-pointer, and the comeback was on.

'We had good ball movement there, and I had the confidence to knock down the shot,” Wise said.

Guy nailed a trey of her own to tie it at 31-31, then fed Mariah Robinson for a transition basket to put the J-Hawks in front for keeps.

Another basket by Guy, on a drive to the lane, made it 35-31, then Wise, Guy, Robinson and Samantha Kitterman combined to hit eight conscutive free throws as Jefferson pulled away.

'We panicked,” said Prairie Coach Josh Bentley. 'We had too many turnovers. Jefferson played some nice pressure defense that got us out of our comfort zone.”

Jefferson led through most of the first half, but an 8-1 Prairie run gave the Hawks a 23-20 lead late in the third quarter. Olivia Usher's two free throws made it 29-24 with 5:11 left in the game before Jefferson charged back.

J-Hawks post Kennedy Dighton was the lone player in double figures. She posted 13 points (11 in the first half) and seven rebounds. Kitterman and Guy added nine apiece.

Freshman Halle Person paced Prairie with nine points and 11 rebounds.

CEDAR RAPIDS JEFFERSON 43, CEDAR RAPIDS PRAIRIE 35 (Class 5A Regional Quarterfinal)

At C.R. Jefferson

C.R. PRAIRIE (35): Taylor Moenk 1-4 0-0 2, Lynsey Altenhofen 2-8 0-0 6, Emilie Rotter 3-12 1-2 7, Olivia Usher 1-6 3-4 5, Halle Person 2-9 5-6 9, Makenzie Stoffer 2-3 0-0 4, Lauren Kuch 1-4 0-0 2, Maddie Adams 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 12-47 9-12 35.

C.R. JEFFERSON (43): Mariah Robinson 2-5 2-2 7, Samantha Kitterman 3-5 3-6 9, Avery Guy 2-5 4-6 9, Kylie Wise 1-5 2-2 5, Kennedy Dighton 4-9 4-4 13, Sparkle Melton 0-0 0-0 0, Emma Rolwes 0-0 0-0 0, Cassandra Veglahn 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 12-29 15-20 43.

Halftime: Jefferson 17, Prairie 13. 3-point goals: Prairie 2-13 (Moenk 0-1, Altenhofen 2-5, Rotter 0-3, Usher 0-1, Person 0-1, Kuch 0-1, Adams 0-1), Jefferson 4-11 (Robinson 1-3, Guy 1-2, Wise 1-3, Dighton 1-3). Team fouls: Prairie 17, Jefferson 11. Fouled out: none. Rebounds: Prairie 29 (Person 11), Jefferson 24 (Dighton 7). Assists: Prairie 6 (Kuch 2), Jefferson 4 (four with 1). Steals: Prairie 10 (Rotter 4), Jefferson 6 (Robinson, Kitterman 3). Turnovers: Prairie 13, Jefferson 17.

l Comments: (319) 368-8857; jeff.linder@thegazette.com