Bench plays a big role in Cedar Rapids Prairie’s 5th straight girls’ basketball victory

CEDAR RAPIDS — Subs, yes. Scrubs? Hardly.

Class 5A 11th-ranked Cedar Rapids Prairie got 32 points from its bench and blasted Cedar Rapids Kennedy, 75-36, in a non-conference girls’ basketball game between the Metro rivals Friday night at Prairie High School.

“Our (reserves) have a lot of talent, and we’ve got to take advantage when it’s our time,” Asia Beale said.

Prairie (5-1) has a first five and a second five, but when the second-stringers enter, there’s not much drop-off at all. Some of the substitutes are veterans and former starters.

It all makes for some spirited scrimmages in practice.

“Yeah, it gets pretty competitive,” Ryann Decker said. “Our White team and Black team, we go after it hard.”

White team, Black team. Starters and backups. They all went after it hard Friday, and the reward was the program’s first five-game win streak since 2019-20.

Since a 83-42 season-opening loss at No. 1 Johnston, the Hawks have won against Mississippi Valley Conference foes by margins of 16, 19, 28, 41 and 39.

“I’ve really been a Kobe (Bryant) guy lately, and one of his quotes was that practice has to be harder than games,” Prairie Coach Kenyon Murray said.

“Our goal is to get better every day. We put them in competitive positions every day at practice.”

Prairie roared to a 10-0 start, led 22-7 after a quarter and 33-13 at halftime.

Four players — two starters, two reserves — hit double figures for the Hawks.

Emily Larsen led the way with 17 points. Decker added 12 points (10 in the first half), Beale 11 points and seven rebounds, DeLanee Seay 10 points.

Prairie committed just six turnovers, compared to 21 for the Cougars (1-6). The Hawks were 20 of 25 from the free-throw line.

“It’s hard to put a label on this team so early,” Decker said. “But we have a lot of potential.”

Beale added, “We can be something really good.”

Lexi Moore led Kennedy with 19 points and 10 boards.

The teams meet again Feb. 2 at Kennedy in a game that will count in Mississippi Valley Conference standings.

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BOYS: Kennedy 98, Prairie 56

All five Kennedy starters reached double figures, led by Joe Bean’s 17 points.

Micah Schlaak and Trevan Krumrei added 15 points apiece, Trey McKowen 14, Cyrus Courtney 10.

It was close for a while; the Cougars (4-0) actually trailed for much of the first quarter before surging to a 26-20 lead. They scored 19 points in the first four minutes of the second quarter and won going away.

Freshman Austin Joens led Prairie (1-4) with 15 points. Reid Burkle and Jace McDermott scored 14 each.

Cedar Rapids Prairie 75, Cedar Rapids Kennedy 36

At C.R. Prairie

C.R. KENNEDY (36): Addison Swartzendruber 1-4 1-4 3, Ella Moser 1-10 1-2 3, Kyla Wright 1-7 0-0 2, Lexi Moore 6-16 6-8 19, Alaina Canney 2-8 3-4 7, Payton Thier 1-2 0-0 3, Lola Sain 0-2 1-2 1, Isabelle Senters 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 12-49 12-20 36.

C.R. PRAIRIE (75): Neveah Diaz-Doolin 1-3 3-3 5, KeaOnna Worley 2-5 2-2 6, Brynlie Hadenfeldt 2-7 0-0 5, Emily Larsen 5-12 5-5 17, DeLanee Seay 4-8 0-0 10, Ryann Decker 5-10 2-2 14, Catie Reittinger 1-4 2-2 4, Asia Beale 3-6 5-6 11, McKenna Murray 1-2 1-3 3, Ava Van Voorst 0-1 0-0 0, Presley Estrada 1-2 0-2 2. Totals 25-60 20-25 75.

C.R. Kennedy 7 6 12 11 — 36

C.R. Prairie 22 11 27 15 — 75

3-point goals: Kennedy 2-15 (Swartzendruber 0-2, Moser 0-6, Wright 0-2, Moore 1-2, Thier 1-2, Sain 0-1), Prairie 5-19 (Diaz-Doolin 0-1, Hadenfeldt 1-1, Larsen 2-7, Seay 2-4, Reittinger 0-2, Beale 0-2, Van Voorst 0-1, Estrada 0-1). Team fouls: Kennedy 19, Prairie 16. Fouled out: none. Rebounds: Kennedy 44 (Moore 10), Prairie 33 (Beale 7). Assists: Kennedy 2 (Moser, Senters), Prairie 6 (Worley, Hadenfeldt 2). Steals: Kennedy 4 (Wright 2), Prairie 13 (Hadenfeldt, Reittinger 3). Turnovers: Kennedy 21, Prairie 6.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com