Prairie gets it done at the end, tops City High, 48-39

IOWA CITY — The target is real, whether the Prairie Hawks realize it or not.

“The girls don’t understand that they have a target on their back,” Coach Bruce Dall said. “We need more of a sense of urgency.”

Tuesday night, that sense arrived midway through the fourth quarter.

Just in time.

Class 5A fifth-ranked Cedar Rapids Prairie held No. 9 Iowa City High to 12 second-half points, and prevailed 48-39 in a non-conference girls’ basketball game Tuesday night at City High.

“We had that energy at the end,” Brynlie Hadenfeldt said. “We were able to rise off of it.”

Fixed in a 36-36 deadlock with 7 minutes to go, Prairie (9-1) owned crunch time to the tune of 12-3, holding City (8-3) without a field goal for 6 minutes.

“We made some switches,” Dall said. “Nevaeh (Diaz-Doolin) has been guarding the (opponents’) big scorers. (City’s Tessa Driscoll was tearing us up in the first half, so we put Nevaeh on her.”

After an 11-point first half, Driscoll went scoreless the rest of the way. The Little Hawks were 5 of 24 from the floor in the second half, 0 of 8 from long range.

Prairie overcame some worrisome early foul trouble. Three starters had two personals before the end of the first quarter.

“That’s been us all year,” Dall said. “We get in early foul trouble and we have to squeak by. We have to learn to let some things go, and live to fight another day.”

Hadenfeldt co-led the Hawks (along with Asia Beale) with 12 points, and grabbed eight rebounds. KeaOnna Worley added 10 points, seven rebounds and six assists, and Emily Larsen tallied nine points.

Freshman Eve Vitense scored nine points off the bench for City. Kaitlin Loria registered seven points and 11 rebounds.

The teams will play again Feb. 3 at Prairie in a game that counts in the Mississippi Valley Conference standings. Both teams currently carry a 4-0 MVC mark and are tied for first place in the Valley Division.

“We’re both at the top of the conference, so when we play them again, we know it will be hard,” Hadenfeldt said.

BOYS: Cedar Rapids Prairie 69, Iowa City High 66 (OT)

Sophomore Austin Joens scored 28 points, and the Hawks (5-2) scored nine consecutive points in overtime after spotting City High the first four.

Will Wehr added 17 points, including the clinching free throws with 0:08 remaining in OT. Wehr converted a crucial three-point play late in regulation.

Davion Luckett led City High (3-7) with 20 points. Jaxton Schroeder added 19, Christopher Watkins 14.

Cedar Rapids Prairie 48, Iowa City High 39

At Iowa City High

C.R. PRAIRIE (48): Nevaeh Diaz-Doolin 0-1 0-0 0, KeaOnna Worley 3-9 3-3 10, Brynlie Hadenfeldt 5-14 2-2 12, Emily Larsen 3-9 1-2 9, Asia Beale 6-12 0-0 12, Presley Estrada 2-3 1-1 5, Kylie Wachtl 0-1 0-0 0, Kennady Johnson 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 19-50 7-8 48.

IOWA CITY HIGH (39): August Palmer 2-11 0-0 5, Hattie Galloway 2-7 1-2 5, Kaitlin Loria 3-11 1-2 7, Emmy McComas 1-5 0-0 2, Tessa Driscoll 4-10 0-1 11, Eve Vitense 4-9 0-1 9, Maybes Miller 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 16-55 2-6 39.

C.R. Prairie 10 15 11 12 — 48

Iowa City High 14 13 7 5 — 39

3-point goals: Prairie 3-16 (Diaz-Doolin 0-1, Worley 1-2, Hadenfeldt 0-5, Larsen 2-7, Johnson 0-1), City 5-23 (Palmer 1-4, Galloway 0-3, Loria 0-2, Driscoll 3-7, Vitense 1-6, Miller 0-1). Team fouls: Prairie 12, City 15. Fouled out: none. Technical foul: City bench. Rebounds: Prairie 33 (Hadenfeldt 8), City 41 (Loria 11). Assists: Prairie 10 (Worley 6), City 11 (Galloway 3). Steals: Prairie 7 (Diaz-Doolin, Worley 2), City 3 (three with 1). Turnovers: Prairie 10, City 16.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com