Sidney McCrea, Mallory McDermott keep Prairie girls' basketball clicking along at 5-0

CEDAR RAPIDS — The clock is ticking, and Josh Bentley knows it.

'Sometimes I just want to sit and enjoy it,' said Bentley, the girls' basketball coach at Cedar Rapids Prairie. 'Savor it. Because, sadly, it's going to be over too quick.'

Sidney McCrea and Mallory McDermott scored 20 points apiece, and Class 5A seventh-ranked Prairie smashed Linn-Mar, 61-30, in a Mississippi Valley Conference contest Tuesday night at Prairie High School.

A pair of seniors, McCrea and McDermott are carrying the Hawks (5-0 overall, 3-0 MVC) through a dynamite December.

'We knew our role had to step up,' said McCrea, a Northern Illinois University signee (McDermott is bound for Western Illinois). 'But as you saw tonight, a lot of other people are stepping up, and that's going to help a lot moving forward.

'(Hailey) Cooper hit some big shots. (Natalie) Bennett made a couple of 3-pointers.'

Prairie held Linn-Mar (2-5, 2-1) to 24-percent shooting from the field, and broke the game open in the final 11 minutes of the first half, turning a 7-7 stalemate into a 33-15 halftime advantage.

'Something we focus on, turning our defense into offense,' McCrea said. 'Games are a lot more fun if you are making shots, and it's easy to make shot when they're open.'

McCrea converted 7 of 11 tries from the floor, and made a complete game of it with seven rebounds, six assists and five steals. McDermott was 9 of 20 from the field, and was at her best in the second quarter, scoring 11 straight Prairie points as the Hawks ran away.

The Hawks collected 16 steals as part of Linn-Mar's 23-turnover tally.

Through five games, McDermott is averaging 25.4 points per game, McCrea 22.2.

Yeah, savor this.

Keegan Krejca and Alexis Beier tallied nine points apiece for Linn-Mar. Krejca pulled down 12 rebounds.

CEDAR RAPIDS PRAIRIE 61, LINN-MAR 30

At C.R. Prairie

LINN-MAR (30): Keegan Krejca 2-5 5-9 9, Kaitlyn Brunson 0-4 0-3 0, Hallie Peak 1-3 0-0 2, Alexis Beier 3-7 2-3 9, Carly Printy 0-6 2-4 2, Emma Casebolt 0-4 0-0 0, Abby Thoms 1-3 0-0 2, Jamison Feldman 1-1 0-0 3, Marissa Miller 1-2 0-0 3, Molly Chmelicek 0-0 0-0 0, Caelynn Obleton 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 9-37 9-19 30.

C.R. PRAIRIE (61): Sidney McCrea 7-11 2-3 20, Kamryn Grissel 0-3 2-4 2, Mallory McDermott 9-20 0-0 20, Jenna Leggat 3-6 0-0 6, Hailey Cooper 3-4 1-2 7, Natalie Bennett 2-6 0-0 6, Lauren Williams 0-2 0-0 0, Emma Keiper 0-1 0-0 0, Olivia Benson 0-0 0-0 0, Teghan Trimble 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-53 5-9 61.

Halftime: Prairie 33, Linn-Mar 15. 3-point goals: Linn-Mar 3-19 (Brunson 0-3, Peak 0-1, Beier 1-5, Printy 0-3, Casebolt 0-3, Feldman 1-1, Miller 1-1, Obleton 0-2), Prairie 8-19 (McCrea 4-6, Grissel 0-1, McDermott 2-5, Bennett 2-5, Williams 0-1, Keiper 0-1). Team fouls: Linn-Mar 7, Prairie 14. Fouled out: none. Rebounds: Linn-Mar 32 (Krejca 12), Prairie 33 (McCrea 7). Assists: Linn-Mar 4 (four with 1), Prairie 13 (McCrea 6). Steals: Linn-Mar 5 (Brunson 4), Prairie 16 (McCrea, Cooper 5). Turnovers: Linn-Mar 23, Prairie 9.

Comments: (319) 368-8857; jeff.linder@thegazette.com