Increased delegation, uncanny depth are driving Cedar Rapids Prairie girls’ basketball upward

Year 2 of the Kenyon Murray era has revolved around two buzzwords:

Delegation. And depth.

Let’s take these one at a time. Delegation first.

“One thing we’re doing different is that we’re running the program more like a football team,” said Murray, head girls’ basketball coach at rapidly ascendant Cedar Rapids Prairie.

Assistant coaches are more like coordinators.

“(Steve) Stumpff is in charge of the defense,” Murray said. “(Scott) Leggat handles our press and press-break. Ashley (Grimm) runs our out-of-bounds plays.

“I wanted them to have an equal voice so that the girls can tap into the assistants when I’m up coaching.”

The assistants aren’t the only ones with a greater voice this season.

“It’s more of a players-led team,” Murray said. “We have a seniors’ leadership group. Kids like Ryann Decker have really stepped up vocally.”

And the unit, as a whole, has done the same in terms of the bottom line.

A 10-12 team in Murray’s debut season, Prairie is 6-1 heading into its December finale Friday at home against Cedar Rapids Jefferson.

The Hawks suffered an 83-42 season-opening loss to Johnston, but has rattled off six consecutive victories, by an average margin of 23 points.

That’s where the depth comes in.

Murray can effectively run a rotation of 11 players. Seven are averaging at least 4 points per game, led by sophomores Emily Larsen (13.6 ppg) and Brynlie Hadenfeldt (9.4 ppg, 4.7 rpg).

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Freshman point guard KeaOnna Worley (6.4 ppg) has an assist-to-turnover count of 26 to 8.

“With our depth, that makes our defense really effective,” Murray said. “We’re able to run different stuff at teams.

“And our pace. Shooting comes and goes, but when we play with pace, we’re able to get to teams’ benches.”

The depth “can be a double-edged sword,” Murray said. There are a lot of capable players, some of whom surely would like more minutes.

“We talk about consistency and production,” he said. “When you get an opportunity, it’s about going out and producing, being ready when your number is called.”

Reserves make up about 37 percent of the Hawks’ scoring. That crew includes seniors like Decker, McKenna Murray (Kenyon’s daughter) and Catie Reittinger, plus junior Asia Beale, who is third on the team in scoring (7.6 ppg).

“It seems like it’s a different girl or girls every night,” Murray said.

At 4-0 in Mississippi Valley Conference play, the Hawks are tied for first place in the Mississippi Division, with Dubuque Wahlert and Cedar Falls. They play those teams in succession Jan. 5 and Jan. 9.

Lone Tree area’s first to double-digit wins

Led by a defense that allows 30.1 points and collects 19.1 steals per game (fifth best in the state), Lone Tree is the area’s first team to 10 wins.

The Lions are 10-1 and have concluded play until Jan. 2.

Six different players are contributing heavily to that steals total, led by junior Vivian Zaruba (5.1 per game). That helps offset the Lions’ 33-percent field-goal shooting.

Offensively, the team is sophomore-driven: Finley Jacque leads at 17.9 points per game, followed by classmates Ava Christofferson (7.0) and Alyson Ford (6.8).

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com