McCrary's basket sends Prairie past Xavier

CEDAR RAPIDS -- McCrary. McClutch. Again.

Courteney McCrary nailed a 10-footer shortly before time expired to give Class 4A ninth-ranked Cedar Rapids Prairie a 42-40 Mississippi Valley Conference girls' basketball win over No. 8 Cedar Rapids Xavier Friday night at Prairie High School.

The win was the seventh straight for Prairie (10-3 overall, 8-2 MVC), and it was the second time in a week that McCrary made the big play at the end. Last Friday, she made two free throws with 0.2 seconds left to beat Iowa City High, 45-44.

"She's a kid that likes to make things happen," said Prairie Coach Steve Doser.

Xavier (11-4, 6-4) tied the game when Emily Walvoord converted under the basket via a feed from Alex Bartz. Doser called timeout and made a pretty simple call.

"He just said to get it inbounds and go," said Alisa Weiland, who took a pass from Madison Dellamuth, drove and kicked it to an open McCrary on the left wing.

The ball went in the basket with 2 seconds left, and the horn sounded just after the Saints got the ball inbounds.

Prairie won a total of 12 games in the past three seasons, and the Hawks are getting close to reaching that mark this winter.

"We have a way different team," McCrary said. "We knew we could beat them.

"When I got the ball, I had to believe in myself. I didn't want to go to overtime. I wanted to get it over with."

For Xavier, it was the second two-point loss of the week. Cedar Rapids Washington edged the Saints, 40-38, Monday.

"In this league, you have to take full advantage of the opportunities when they come," said Xavier Coach Tom Lilly. "At times we lacked patience offensively, and it allowed them to get back in the game."

Xavier held a small lead most of the game. Prairie pulled even at 32-32 on Weiland's 3-pointer with 6:55 left, then it was back and forth the rest of the way.

McCrary's drive gave the Hawks a 38-36 lead, then Bartz knotted it with a pair of free throws at the 1:44 mark.

Cyerra Hutchins' two foul shots with 1:11 gave Prairie a 40-38 edge.

Weiland paced the Hawks with 13 points. McCrary added eight points and nine boards.

Walvoord registered 13 points and seven rebounds for Xavier.

C.R. PRAIRIE 42, C.R. XAVIER 40

At C.R. Prairie

C.R. XAVIER (40): Kayla Armstrong 3-4 1-1 7, Annie Dale 0-4 3-5 3, Katlyn Andersen 0-3 0-0 0, Emily Walvoord 6-10 1-2 13, Alex Bartz 2-5 3-4 7, Nicole Noonan 1-1 0-0 2, Sarah Dickes 1-1 0-0 2, Ashley Stulken 1-3 0-0 2, Lisa Boomgarden 2-3 0-1 4, Maddie Bertsch 0-0 0-0 0, Hayley Deutmeyer 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 16-35 8-13 40.

C.R. PRAIRIE (42): Katilyn Yanacek 2-4 0-0 4, Cyerra Hutchins 2-5 4-6 8, Alisa Weiland 4-7 2-2 13, Courteney McCrary 3-9 2-2 8, Madison Dellamuth 2-6 0-0 5, Emilie Rotter 1-1 1-2 3, Mackenzie Serbousek 0-2 1-2 1. Totals 14-34 10-14 42.

Halftime: Xavier 19, Prairie 17.

3-point goals: Xavier 0-3 (Andersen 0-2, Deutmeyer 0-1), Prairie 4-10 (Hutchins 0-1, Weiland 3-5, McCrary 0-2, Dellamuth 1-2).

Team fouls: Xavier 13, Prairie 15.

Fouled out: none.

Rebounds: Xavier 23 (Bartz 8), Prairie 22 (McCrary 9).

 Assists: Xavier 6 (Bartz 2), Prairie 9 (Dellamuth 5).

Steals: Xavier 7 (Andersen 3), Prairie 8 (Weiland, Dellamuth 2).

 Turnovers: Xavier 17, Prairie 14.