Carly Spies too much inside as Linn-Mar brushes past C.R. Prairie, 49-41

CEDAR RAPIDS - When you're not shooting it well from distance, you can keep shooting and hope the basketball eventually goes in. Or you can make an offensive adjustment.

Carly Spies was Linn-Mar's offensive adjustment.

The 6-foot-2 junior center owned the interior in the second half and rallied the Class 5A 13th-ranked Lions past Cedar Rapids Prairie, 49-41. Spies finished with a double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds, blocking a shot and picking up a steal late in an overall clutch performance.

'We definitely came out a lot stronger in the second half than we started in the first,” Spies said. 'Coach said we needed to be more patient on offense and move the ball around a lot more. That really worked for us.”

'Carly Spies played a heck of a game,” said Linn-Mar Coach Jaime Brandt. 'I thought we executed that well in the second half, being able to feed her inside. Very proud of our team effort in the second half.”

Prairie (2-6) stunned Linn-Mar with an early flurry and 8-0 lead. The Lions came back to tie things, but another flurry at the end of the second quarter produced a 20-14 Hawks lead at the break.

Linn-Mar (6-2) made just 4 of 20 field-goal attempts in the first half, including 0 for 11 from 3-point range. Something had to change.

It did, as the Lions took just one shot from beyond the arc in the second half, focusing on feeding the post.

'The first half, we just came out really slow,” said Brandt. 'Prairie played a heck of a game. They have a lot of young kids, and they just get after it. We didn't really match that intensity in the first half. I challenged them at halftime, and I'm glad they responded.”

It was still a tied game after three quarters, 34-34, but Prairie had no answer for Spies, who was 5 of 9 from the field and 7 for 7 at the stripe. UNI recruit Kamryn Finley added 14 points for Linn-Mar.

Freshman Mallory McDermott had 14 points and sophomore Sarah Schmitt 11 for Prairie.

'That second half really showed how we could play as a team,” Spies said.

Linn-Mar lost a week ago to Cedar Rapids Xavier but responded with a pair of wins this week.

'My biggest thing is that we get better every game,” Brandt said. 'I think maybe a week ago if we were 0-for-11 from the 3-point line in the first half, we probably would have lost that game. Just their maturity level in the second half and learning from it, that's good. I still think we have a long ways to go, we still need to put a whole game together. But as far as getting better every single game, I'm proud of them.”

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AT C.R. PRAIRIE

LINN-MAR (49): Kamryn Finley 4-12 6-12 14, Carly Spies 5-9 7-7 17, Ally Johnson 1-4 3-5 5, Megan Murphy 0-2 0-0 0, Lexi Freese 1-2 0-0 2, Megan Renner 2-4 0-0 4, Ellie Anderson 0-1 0-0 0, Carly Printy 0-1 1-2 1, Macey Miller 1-2 5-7 7. Totals 14-37 22-33 49.

C.R. PRAIRIE (41): Rachael Kilpatrick 2-4 3-4 7, Lauren Kuch 1-3 1-2 3, Sarah Schmitt 3-11 4-4 11, Sid McCrea 2-10 0-0 4, Mallory McDermott 4-14 6-9 14, Maggie Lampe 0-1 2-2 2, Quinn Deahl 0-0 0-0 0, Makenna Moenk 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 12-45 16-21 41.

Halftime - Prairie 20, Linn-Mar 14. 3-point goals - Linn-Mar 0-12 (Finley 0-6, Murphy 0-2, Johnson 0-3, Printy 0-1), Prairie 1-9 (Schmitt 1-2, McDermott 0-5, McCrea 0-1, Moenk 0-1). Rebounds - Linn-Mar 34 (Spies 10), Prairie 32 (McCrea 9). Total fouls - Linn-Mar 17, Prairie 22. Fouled out - None. Turnovers - Linn-Mar 14, Prairie 15.

l Comments: (319) 398-8259; jeff.johnson@thegazette.com