Interchangeable Prairie Hawks squash Kennedy for 10th consecutive win

CEDAR RAPIDS — The Prairie Hawks are a collection of handy, interchangeable parts.

And they’re not of the square-peg/round-hole variety. Everything seems to fit.

“That’s one of the best things about this team,” senior McKenna Murray said. “We can all do a bunch of things, play a lot of roles.”

Paced by Emily Larsen’s 19 points, four players reached double figures, and the Class 5A ninth-ranked Hawks squashed Cedar Rapids Kennedy, 72-25, in a Mississippi Valley Conference girls’ basketball game Friday night at Kennedy High School.

“We talk about that (depth),” senior Catie Reittinger said. “If we have three or four players score in double figures, we can reach some big things.”

The Hawks’ winning streak reached 10, and this one was a no-doubter from the start.

Prairie scored the first six points and ran to a 17-2 advantage. Then, at 19-9, it held Kennedy (5-7, 3-3) scoreless for the final 7:45 of the half and took a 34-9 lead into the locker room.

“We talked about this just yesterday,” Prairie Coach Kenyon Murray said. “If we’re going to make a (postseason) run like we want to make, we need everybody locked in.”

Asia Beale scored 12 points, Murray 11, Reittinger 10.

“I told Catie about getting more shots, being more aggressive offensively,” Coach Murray said. “It was great to see that out of her tonight.”

Beale and Reittinger came off the bench, and that bench accounted for 30 points. That’s not uncommon with this crew.

“A lot of teams have six, seven, eight players,” Reittinger said. “We have 11.”

McKenna Murray chimed in: “And that allows us to go five-on-five in practice. We are able to push each other. It makes us so much better.”

Twelve Hawks had at least one rebound (Larsen and KeaOnna Worley had five).

Eight had at least one assist (four for Reittinger). Seven had at least one steal (Worley swiped four).

Ella Moser led Kennedy with nine points. Ella Wright scored eight.

Boys: Kennedy 85, Prairie 37

The Class 4A top-ranked Cougars stormed to a 52-16 halftime lead, and cruised to their 31st consecutive regular season win.

Joe Bean led Kennedy (11-0 overall, 6-0 MVC) with 19 points. Trey McKowen and Griffin Gerdes added 11 apiece.

The Cougars made all 16 of their free-throw attempts.

Jace McDermott tallied 14 to pace Prairie (4-7, 2-3).

Girls’ box score: Cedar Rapids Prairie 72, Cedar Rapids Kennedy 25

At C.R. Kennedy

C.R. PRAIRIE (72): Nevaeh Diaz-Doolin 0-2 1-2 1, KeaOnna Worley 2-3 0-4 4, Brynlie Hadenfeldt 3-7 0-2 7, Emily Larsen 7-12 2-2 19, McKenna Murray 3-7 4-5 11, Catie Reittinger 2-4 4-4 10, DeLanee Seay 0-4 0-0 0, Asia Beale 4-7 4-4 12, Ryann Decker 1-4 1-3 3, Ava Van Voorst 0-1 0-0 0, Presley Estrada 2-2 1-2 5, Ella Nove 0-1 0-0 0, Denise Steen 0-0 0-0 0, Morgan Burhans 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 24-55 17-29 72.

C.R. KENNEDY (25): Addison Swartzendruber 0-3 0-0 0, Ella Moser 4-11 1-2 9, Kyla Wright 2-10 3-6 8, Payton Thier 0-6 2-2 2, Alaina Canney 1-7 2-4 4, Isabella Senters 0-2 0-2 0, Lola Sain 1-4 0-0 2, Mia Huber 0-1 0-0 0, Abby Dolan 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 8-44 8-16 25.

C.R. Prairie 19 15 21 17 — 72

C.R. Kennedy 7 2 13 3 — 25

3-point goals: Prairie 7-15 (Hadenfeldt 1-3, Larsen 3-5, Murray 1-1, Reittinger 2-3, Seay 0-1, Van Voorst 0-1, Burhans 0-1), Kennedy 1-16 (Swartzendruber 0-2, Wright 1-6, Thier 0-4, Senters 0-1, Sain 0-2, Huber 0-1). Team fouls: Prairie 17, Kennedy 18. Fouled out: Canney. Rebounds: Prairie 49 (Worley, Larsen 5), Kennedy 27 (Canney 6). Assists: Prairie 16 (Reittinger 4), Kennedy 4 (Wright 2). Steals: Prairie 14 (Worley 4), Kennedy 6 (Wright 4). Turnovers: Prairie 12, Kennedy 18.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com