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Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Prairie stymies West’s shooters, storms to state, 61-40, in a 5A regional final
Hawks head to state for the first time since 2020; it’s the 13th appearance for first-year coach Bruce Dall
Feb. 25, 2025 10:23 pm, Updated: Feb. 26, 2025 7:20 am
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CEDAR RAPIDS — The year was 2004. The school was Allison-Bristow. The venue was Veterans Auditorium.
That was 21 years and three schools ago, when Bruce Dall made his state-tournament breakthrough.
“I was able to jump a lot higher then,” he said. “I have an older body now, but this is just as satisfying.”
Sixth-ranked Cedar Rapids Prairie mired Iowa City West’s vaunted 3-point game to a standstill and subdued the 12th-ranked Trojans, 61-40, in a Class 5A girls’ basketball regional final Tuesday night at Prairie High School.
“I’m sad that this is my last year at Prairie,” a semi-teary Asia Beale said. “But doing this is so rewarding. I’ve worked for this for four years, and it feels great.”
Prairie (20-4) advances to the state tournament for the first time since 2020. The Hawks will face No. 3 Waukee Northwest (18-4) in the first round at 3:15 p.m. next Monday at Wells Fargo Arena, Des Moines.
“A lot of emotions, a lot of excitement,” Neva’eh Diaz-Doolin said. “There’s really no feeling to describe it.
“We went out and executed. That’s all you can do.”
This time last year, Prairie was beaten by Cedar Falls in the regional finals and Dall was coaching Dike-New Hartford to its fourth consecutive 2A state championship.
He accepted the Prairie job in the offseason and ultimately pushed his regional-final record to 13-3.
“He’s the one who finished it off for us,” Diaz-Doolin said. “So many people have come and gone. But he said that he was here to stay. He proved he’s a state-championship coach.”
Dall won a 1A title with Ackley AGWSR in 2009, then went on his four-year title haul at DNH (2021-24).
West (15-9) entered the game averaging 8.3 3-pointers per game. Tuesday, the Trojans were 2-of-17 from long range.
“We had to execute defensively,” Diaz-Doolin said. “They have such good shooters. We had to work of defense, and we sure did.”
An 8-0 run gave West its final lead of the game at 12-11 late in the first quarter, but Beale and KeaOnna Worley hit back-to-back 3-pointers to put Prairie in front, 17-12, at the first-quarter break.
The remainder of the game was a steady Prairie pull-away. The Hawks led, 30-21, at halftime, then essentially iced it with the first seven points of the second half.
Prairie was the more aggressive, more physical, tougher team. The Hawks outrebounded the Trojans by a 22-12 margin in the second half and committed just seven turnovers, compared to 16 for West.
Sophomore point guard KeaOnna Worley led all scorers with 19 points and (despite standing 5-foot-3) grabbed seven rebounds.
“I’m just excited,” Worley said. “We worked all year for this. I’m happy for it. I think we can do big things at state if we’re locked in.”
Beale added 16 points, seven rebounds and four steals. Brynlie Hadenfeldt tallied 12 points. Diaz-Doolin posted seven points, eight rebounds and five assists.
Grace Fincham led West with 16 points (12 in the first half). Kate Van Waning added eight points and nine rebounds.
Four juniors and a sophomore comprised West’s starting lineup.
Cedar Rapids Prairie 61, Iowa City West 40
Class 5A Regional Final, at C.R. Prairie
IOWA CITY WEST (40): Ava Frese 1-4 4-5 6, Kate Van Waning 3-8 0-0 8, Abby Neumiller 1-6 0-0 2, Grace Fincham 5-15 6-6 16, Sasha Baldwin 1-3 2-2 4, Elle Barnett 0-0 0-0 0, Lauryn Hynek 1-2 2-3 4, Ava Bruxvoort 0-0 0-0 0, Makayla Bryant 0-0 0-0 0, Sophie Bodin 0-0 0-0 0, Taleen Rahhal 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 12-29 14-16 40.
C.R. PRAIRIE (61): Nava’eh Diaz-Doolin 3-10 0-0 7, KeaOnna Worley 6-12 5-8 19, Brynlie Hadenfeldt 4-12 3-4 12, Emily Larsen 3-12 0-0 7, Asia Beale 5-11 5-8 16, Presley Estrada 0-0 0-0 0, Kennady Johnson 0-0 0-0 0, Kylie Wachtl 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-57 13-20 61.
Iowa City West 12 9 8 11 — 40
C.R. Prairie 17 13 19 12 — 61
3-point goals: West 2-17 (Frese 0-2, Van Waning 2-3, Neumiller 0-3, Fincham 0-6, Baldwin 0-2, Rahhal 0-1), Prairie 6-16 (Diaz-Doolin 1-2, Worley 2-3, Hadenfeldt 1-3, Larsen 1-7, Beale 1-1). Team fouls: West 14, West 13. Fouled out: none. Rebounds: West 29 (Van Waning 9), Prairie 38 (Diaz-Doolin 8). Assists: West 5 (Hynek 2), Prairie 11 (Diaz-Doolin 5). Steals: West 2 (Frese 2), Prairie 10 (Beale 4). Turnovers: West 16, Prairie 7.
Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com
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