Building Prairie rolls past Jefferson

CEDAR RAPIDS – If Cedar Rapids Prairie's boys' basketball team was a Fantasy Football player, it would have a green arrow next to it pointing straight up.

On most websites devoted to the popular endeavor, that indicates a guy considered to have upside. As Tuesday night's 66-45 stroll past Cedar Rapids Jefferson further proved, these Hawks have that.

Perhaps some major upside.

'That's my hope,” said rookie head coach Jeremy Rickertsen. 'If it's not, then I'm doing something wrong. Yeah, absolutely, I think that's the case. We've got some young talent, some depth. It's just a matter of convincing them that it takes work, it takes focus and good practice habits. Then good things will happen.”

Prairie (8-9) already has surpassed, by two, its win total of a season ago. The next target is matching or going over the 2011-12 team's victory total of nine.

Tuesday night's leading scorers were sophomore guard Max Drahos (15 points) and junior guard Cal Clark (10). Prairie's sophomore team has a winning record, and there's some other talent, including in eighth grade, that is particularly promising.

The Hawks could be a Metro/Mississippi Valley Conference player in the not-too-distant future.

'Coach Rickertsen has kind of put it on our shoulders to start the process of going towards the top,” Drahos said. ' I think we're just taking that responsibility.”

Prairie bolted to a 20-8 lead after a quarter and 38-21 at halftime with some prolific distance shooting. The Hawks made eight of 10 first-half triples and finished 10 for 15 from the arc.

Several guys got in on the act, with Drahos, Clark, Coen Brown and Mitch Lorenz all dropping multiple 3s. The genesis of it all was simply good ball movement.

'We were definitely feeling it,” said Clark. 'We've been preaching the first four minutes of the game, the first four minutes of the second half, and the last four minutes of the game. I think we did a very good job tonight of coming out and hitting all those 3s. It was a great team effort.”

Rickertsen comfortably played 10 guys, with a dozen getting important minutes. That goes back to the depth thing.

'We shot the ball well. Our guys were able to know down shots tonight,” said Rickertsen, an assistant at Prairie last season. 'We have four or five guys who, on any given night, can hit 3s. I think that versatility helps us.”

It was another long night for Jefferson, which dropped to 1-15. The J-Hawks actually shot 50 percent from the field in the first half but found themselves down significantly because of Prairie's long-range marksmanship.

Adam Van Oort had a team-high nine points for Jeff, with Tyler Konigsmark adding seven. The J-Hawks had 20 turnovers, which were way too many to stay in the game.

'I have not so much tried to change either the offense or defense,” Rickertsen said. 'More the bring it every day mentality. You are going to play the way you practice, so practice hard … This year, we're a little lucky because we have some depth. If you're not going to bring it, then there's somebody over there on the bench that wants to play.”

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AT C.R. PRAIRIE

C.R. JEFFERSON (45): Adam Van Oort 3-6 2-4 9, Tyler Konigsmark 2-9 2-3 7, Brock Hunt 2-5 1-2 5, Bryce Cardis 2-5 2-2 6, Grant Wiederin 1-1 0-0 2, Valentino Green 0-1 0-2 0, Zach Szabo 2-2 0-0 4, Kane Kramer 1-2 1-2 3, Treyton McCauley 1-2 0-0 2, Royshawn Webb 1-2 2-2 4, Jesse Furrow 0-1 2-2 2, Davis Hall 0-0 0-0 0, Tyler Davison 0-1 0-0 0, William Galvin 0-0 0-0 0, Zach Larsen 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 15-37 13-21 45.

C.R. PRAIRIE (66): Jalen Rima 2-8 2-2 6, Ben Boldt 2-3 0-0 4, Bryce Meeker 0-1 2-2 2, Cal Clark 4-7 0-0 10, Max Smith Drahos 6-8 0-0 15, Coen Brown 2-3 0-0 6, Austin Schrader 3-5 0-0 6, Austin Fisher 1-3 0-0 2, Mitch Lorenz 2-4 0-0 6, Jomaryon Simpson 2-3 3-4 8, Ethan Copeland 0-0 0-0 0, Ryan Oxley 0-0 1-2 1, Cooper Reittinger 0-2 0-0 0, Mitchell Nierling 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 24-48 8-10 66.

Halftime – Prairie 38, Jefferson 21. 3-point goals – Jefferson 2-11 (Van Oort 1-3, Konigsmark 1-5, Cardis 0-2, Kramer 0-1), Prairie 10-15 (Clark 2-2, Drahos 3-3, Brown 2-3, Schrader 0-1, Fisher 0-1, Lorenz 2-3, Simpson 1-1, Reittinger 0-1). Rebounds – Jefferson 27 (Van Oort 6), Prairie 21 (Rima, Meeker 3). Total fouls – Jefferson 13, Prairie 22. Fouled out – Schrader. Turnovers – Jefferson 20, Prairie 10.

l Comments: (319) 398-8259; jeff.johnson@thegazette.com