Madden Wilson (21 points, 20 rebounds) leads Xavier past Prairie, 51-37

CEDAR RAPIDS — The desire was there from the start. The offense came eventually.

Madden Wilson registered 21 points, 20 rebounds and five assists, and Class 4A seventh-ranked Cedar Rapids Xavier outhustled and outfought 5A No. 4 Cedar Rapids Prairie, 51-37, in a Mississippi Valley Conference girls’ basketball game Friday night at Prairie High School.

“We’ve preached consistency and confidence,” first-year Saints coach John Gianforte said. “We’ve got kids that buy in and listen, and when you’ve got that, good things happen.”

Xavier (2-1 overall, 1-0 MVC) dominated the boards by a 53-28 margin and held Prairie (2-1, 0-1) to 11-of-52 shooting (21.2 percent).

Wilson had 10 rebounds in the first quarter.

“I didn’t really think about it,” the senior guard said. “Somebody said in the first half that I was getting a lot of offensive rebounds. I just wanted to give the team more chances to score.”

With a minute left in the first half, the Saints had made 4 of 30 shots and trailed 16-9. But Brooklyn Emerson hit a long two-pointer, Cayleigh O’Brien nailed an off-balance 3, and it was a much more manageable 16-14 at intermission.

Prairie stretched its advantage to 29-22 at the 1:50 mark of the third quarter behind KeaOnna Worley’s eight points, but the rest of the game was all Xavier by a 29-8 margin.

The Saints sandwiched 19 consecutive points around the third-quarter break, eight from Wilson.

It led to a raucous postgame locker room.

“Every single time somebody said something, everybody was cheering,” Wilson said. “It was so much fun. It was amazing.”

Emerson added nine points for the winners. Jaselle Lang scored six.

Worley paced Prairie with 17 points. Emily Larsen tacked on 10.

Xavier has little time to celebrate, and Prairie has little time for self-doubt. Both teams have difficult tests Saturday; the Saints host Waverly-Shell Rock while the Hawks face Maquoketa as part of Rivalry Saturday at Anamosa.

Cedar Rapids Xavier 51, Cedar Rapids Prairie 37

At C.R. Prairie

C.R. XAVIER (51): Madden Wilson 6-18 8-10 21, Jaselle Lang 2-8 0-0 6, Brooklyn Emerson 4-6 0-0 9, Cayleigh O'Brien 2-6 0-0 5, Reese Komenda 2-5 0-0 5, Abby Driscoll 0-5 0-0 0, Macie Herting 1-3 0-0 3, Kyanna Harbeck 1-4 0-0 2. Totals 18-55 8-10 51.

C.R. PRAIRIE (37): KeaOnna Worley 5-14 5-8 17, Brynlie Hadenfeldt 0-9 2-2 2, Emily Larsen 3-12 3-4 10, Kennady Johnson 1-6 0-1 2, Piper Johnson 2-7 0-0 6, Brecken Lechtenberg 0-4 0-0 0, Kylie Wachtl 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 11-52 10-15 37.

C.R. Xavier 7 7 19 18 — 51

C.R. Prairie 11 5 13 8 — 37

3-point goals: Xavier 7-23 (Wilson 1-7, Lang 2-6, Emerson 1-3, O’Brien 1-2, Komenda 1-2, Driscoll 0-1, Herting 1-1, Harbeck 0-1), Prairie 5-24 (Worley 2-6, Hadenfeldt 0-4, Larsen 1-7, K. Johnson 0-1, P. Johnson 2-4, Lechtenberg 0-2). Team fouls: Xavier 18, Prairie 15. Fouled out: Lang, P. Johnson. Rebounds: Xavier 53 (Wilson 20), Prairie 28 (Hadenfeldt 7). Assists: Xavier 10 (Wilson 5), Prairie 4 (Worley 2). Steals: Xavier 6 (Wilson 2), Prairie 8 (Worley, Hadenfeldt 3). Turnovers: Xavier 15, Prairie 7.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com