Huge 1st quarter lifts Prairie past Jefferson, 76-56

CEDAR RAPIDS — Ordinarily you might have concern if you hear your players openly express they seek to pattern their play on the NBA. This is prep basketball, not pro.

But in this instance, it's sensible. Completely sensible.

'We've had a lot of really good offensive possessions, kind of Warriors or Spurs-eque,' Prairie's Jake Eilers said, after his team waxed Cedar Rapids Jefferson, 76-56, Tuesday night at Jeff. 'We like to do that. On film, everyone just loves it. We like to make the extra pass. We know everyone on our team can shoot. We find the open guy.'

Prairie is undersized but has considerable strengths in handling the basketball and shooting it. It spreads the court, primarily looking to have guys penetrate for shots or pass it back out for shots.

There were times Tuesday when Hawks players seemed to have solid opportunities, only to dish it off to a teammate for a better opportunity. Those opportunities weren't missed a whole lot.

It was beautiful basketball.

'Passing up a good shot for a great shot,' said Prairie's Griff Clark. 'Make that extra pass to go from a pretty wide-open look to a wide-open look. Tonight, we knocked those shots down.' To the tune of 10 for 13 in an eye-popping 27-point first quarter that essentially ended any and all suspense about a winner. Prairie knocked down 5 of its 7 attempts from 3-point range in building a 27-10 lead.

Clark was the man in the first half for the Hawks, scoring 16 of his 19 points. Eilers was money in the second, with 18 of his game-high 28.

He hit five treys.

'When we shoot it like that,' Prairie Coach Jeremy Rickertsen said with a pause. 'But more importantly, when we share the ball. It's fun to watch, it's hard to guard.'

Prairie (12-6) lost its previous game to Cedar Rapids Xavier, and Rickertsen said the emphasis in practice since then was on defense, not offense. The Hawks did a good job getting out on Jefferson's shooters, limiting the J-Hawks to 36 percent from the floor.

Of course, it seems to be easier to defend when your offense is going so well. Royshawn Webb was the only Jeff player to really get off, as he posted a double-double of 27 points and 10 rebounds.

That wasn't nearly enough. Jefferson fell back to .500 (9-9) with the loss.

'When Prairie gets a lead like they did, they are so tough to come back on,' said Jefferson Coach Brandon Horman. 'They shoot the ball so well, they spread it out. Prairie played with great energy tonight. They controlled the boards, defensively made it tough for us. I thought there were some opportunities that we could take advantage of, but they just wanted it a little bit more tonight than what we appeared to.'

'We knew we had to stay connected defensively,' Eilers said. 'We couldn't let them get loose. We did a good job on that most of the time.'

AT C.R. JEFFERSON

C.R. PRAIRIE (76): Logan Serbousek 1-1 0-0 2, Jake Eilers 10-13 3-4 28, Keegan Murray 3-8 1-1 8, Max Smith Drahos 3-4 0-1 6, Griff Clark 4-11 9-10 19, Darren Kilpatrick 1-1 1-2 4, Levi Usher 0-0 0-0 0, Kris Murray 2-4 0-0 4, Matt Lorenz 0-0 1-3 1, Blake Krapfl 0-2 0-0 0, Zack Johnson 1-1 2-2 4, Cade Chadima 0-0 0-0 0, Joe Meyer 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-45 17-23 76.

C.R. JEFFERSON (56): Kane Kramer 3-9 0-0 8, T.J. Kuennen 0-0 0-0 0, Kyler Bell 1-6 0-0 2, Willie Guy Jr. 5-14 0-1 15, Royshawn Webb 10-20 6-7 27, Curtis Shaw 0-1 0-0 0, Raejzuan Shockley 1-3 0-3 2, Dakota Hulsing 0-0 0-0 0, Isiah Smith 0-0 0-0 0, Ryan Blum 1-5 0-2 2, Dedrick Hawkins 1-2 0-0 2, Isiah Williams 0-0 0-2 0. Totals 22-60 6-15 56.

Halftime — Prairie 42, Jefferson 30. 3-point goals — Prairie 9-22 (Eilers 5-7, Ke. Murray 1-6, Clark 2-5, Kilpatrick 0-1, Kr. Murray 0-2, Krapfl 0-1), Jefferson 6-22 (Kramer 2-7, Bell 0-1, Webb 1-4, Guy 3-9, Hawkins 0-1). Rebounds — Prairie 34 (Clark 8), Jefferson 33 (Webb 10). Total fouls — Prairie 17, Jefferson 18. Fouled out — None. Turnovers — Prairie 6, Jefferson 7.

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