Prairie tops West, 65-57, is the last unbeaten in MVC girls’ basketball

CEDAR RAPIDS — Eastern Iowa’s best? For Cedar Rapids Prairie, Friday provided another piece of evidence to the affirmative.

Ranked fifth in Class 5A, the Hawks led from wire to wire and defeated No. 9 Iowa City West, 65-57, in a battle of Mississippi Valley Conference girls’ basketball divisional leaders Friday night at Prairie High School.

“That first half was as good as we’ve played defensively,” Prairie Coach Bruce Dall said after the Hawks (13-1 overall, 7-0 MVC) won their sixth straight game since the holiday break.

“The mark of a good team is that we were able to stop their runs when they made them.”

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KeaOnna Worley ignited the Hawks with four early baskets and led all scorers with 20 points. Asia Beale added 19, and Emily Larsen provided 16 points and 11 rebounds.

A sophomore dynamo, Worley proved again that size isn’t the only way to attack the basket. How, exactly, does she do it?

“I don’t really know,” she laughed.

Teammate Brynlie Hadenfeldt provided some insight:

“She’s really good about changing speeds,” she said. “When you think she’s going to pull up, she changes it up.”

Worley and Larsen had all of Prairie’s first 17 points, and the Hawks jumped to a 17-4 lead in the first 7-plus minutes.

From there, it was a matter of punch and counterpunch.

West (9-5, 5-1) got within 23-17, then the Hawks pushed it back to 35-20 at halftime.

The Trojans carved the margin to 45-37, then Larsen’s back-to-back 3-pointers allowed Prairie to match its largest advantage at 55-37 early in the fourth quarter.

Valley Division-leading Prairie is on track for its first MVC divisional championship since 2013, but the Hawks still have challenges down the stretch from contenders Cedar Falls (away, Jan. 28), Iowa City High (home, Feb. 3) and Dubuque Wahlert (home, Feb. 4).

“It’s like a ranked opponent every night,” Dall said.

Grace Fincham paced West with 15 points. Sasha Baldwin added 13, Abby Neumiller 12, Ava Frese 10.

The Trojans attempted 37 3-pointers, making 10.

Cedar Rapids Prairie 65, Iowa City West 57

At C.R. Prairie

IOWA CITY WEST (57): Ava Frese 4-9 0-1 10, Kate Van Waning 3-9 1-2 7, Abby Neumiller 4-13 0-0 12, Grace Fincham 6-17 1-3 15, Sasha Baldwin 5-8 1-1 13, Elle Barnett 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 22-58 3-7 57.

C.R. PRAIRIE (65): Nevaeh Diaz-Doolin 2-3 0-0 4, KeaOnna Worley 7-16 6-6 20, Brynlie Hadenfeldt 2-7 2-2 6, Emily Larsen 6-13 0-0 16, Asia Beale 8-14 2-2 19, Presley Estrada 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-54 10-10 65.

Iowa City West 6 14 17 20 — 57

C.R. Prairie 17 18 14 16 — 65

3-point goals: West 10-37 (Frese 2-4, Van Waning 0-4, Neumiller 4-12, Fincham 2-10, Baldwin 2-5, Barnett 0-2), Prairie 5-13 (Worley 0-2, Hadenfeldt 0-1, Larsen 4-7, Beale 1-2, Estrada 0-1). Team fouls: West 10, Prairie 12. Fouled out: none. Rebounds: West 30 (Neumiller, Fincham 7), Prairie 36 (Larsen 11). Assists: West 12 (Baldwin 4), Prairie 8 (Hadenfeldt 4). Steals: West 5 (Neumiller 2), Prairie 7 (Hadenfeldt, Larsen 2). Turnovers: West 7, Prairie 7.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com