Prairie Boys Basketball

Aune sparks Prairie by City High, 54-47

IOWA CITY - Through three quarters Friday night, Prairie and Iowa City High were in a basketball stalemate.

In the final period, Prairie guard Jacob Aune decided he’d seen enough of the back-and-forth and hit City High with a checkmate.

Aune provided crucial fourth-quarter buckets and free throws to help Prairie defeat Iowa City High, 54-47, at the Little Hawk gym.

Aune not only scored a game-high 15 points, but he was calm and collected for the visiting Prairie Hawks.

“Aune is our senior, he is our leader,” said Prairie Coach James Moses. “Those shots and free throws he hit were clutch down the line to help us win the game.

"He just verbally committed to Coe. He is going to be big for their program but he is also special to us right now.”

Aune scored, but he wasn’t the only Prairie Hawk who found the bottom of the net. Seven Prairie players had at least four points. Matt MacDougall had 10, Thomas Eilers and Demetrius Harper each had seven points and point guard Jace Hanna chipped in six.

Moses likes his team’s depth.

“It helps a lot. It makes teams have to adjust to us and respect what we have. That’s why as coaches, we want to have a balanced attack," he said. "When we can have a balanced attack like we did tonight, you can’t just key in on one person to try to stop.”

Prairie was leading, 40-38, near the end of the third quarter when City High’s Lonnie Chester drove the length of the court and put home a layup as time expired, tying the score at 40 and giving the home crowd a jolt of energy.

But Prairie and Aune owned the final quarter.

On Prairie’s first possession of the fourth period, Aune nailed a deep 3-pointer to push ahead 43-40. He then spoiled a City High possession by sticking his hand in front of a pass and converting a toughly contested fast-break layup.

Down 47-40, City High’s Jeremy Johnson kept it interesting by nailing a three. On the ensuing Prairie possession, City High’s Jerel Moore picked a Prairie pass and coasted for a breakaway dunk to bring City High within two, but Moore hung on the rim after the dunk and drew a technical foul.

MacDougall hit one of the two technical free throws and Eilers scored on a pretty dish from Hanna to make the score 50-45.

Prairie played keepaway on its next possession, taking 1:30 of precious time off the clock with their quick and capable guards. Aune then connected on four free throws in the last minute to seal the win for the Prairie Hawks.

“This shows that we're battle-tested and it shows that we are trying to earn respect,” said Moses.

“This says a lot about our kids, who came into a hostile environment and got this win, especially after coming off a loss against Waterloo East. But sometimes you need games like that to help redirect what our journey is and what our goals are.”

PRAIRIE (54): Jacob Aune 4 5-6 15, Jace Hanna 2 1-2 6, Matthew MacDougall 4 1-2 10, Thomas Eilers 2 2-2 7, DeMetrius Harper 3 1-2 7, Kentrel Smith 1 0-0 3, Brooks Kehoe 2 0-0 4, Bryce Meeker 0 0-0 0, Tyler Mougin 0 0-0 0 Mitchell Adams 1 0-0 2. Totals 19 10-14 54.

CITY HIGH (47) Jerel Moore 5 4-6 14, Ronald Thompson 5 0-2 10, Tony Perry 0 0-2 0, Alex Perry 0 1-2 1, Cortez Barfield 2 4-4 8, Jeremy Johnson 3 0-0 7, Lonnie Chester 1 0-0 2, Jasper Washington 1 0-0 2, Ryan Young 0 0-0 0, Andrew Hein 1 0-0 3. Totals 17 9-15 47.

Halftime - Prairie 28, City High 24. 3-point goals - Prairie 6 (Aune 2, Hanna 1, MacDougall 1, Eilers 1, Smith 1), City High 2 (Johnson 1, Hein 1). Technical foul - Moore.

Waterloo East stuns Prairie boys

No one saw this one coming.

Waterloo East was 1-21 last year.

The Trojans’ only two wins this year were against small school University High of Cedar Falls and Oelwein.

And they lost their first three Mississippi Valley Conference games by margins of 24, 49 and 26 points.

But the 58-50 whuppin’ laid on the Prairie boys Tuesday night was no fluke.

“It is what it is,” said an uncharacteristically glum Hawks Coach James Moses.  “They outplayed us in every phase of the game.

“What’s most disappointing is that we didn’t match their intensity from start to finish.”

For third-year Waterloo Coach Anthony Thomas the uncommon taste of victory couldn’t have been any sweeter.

“The guys played great tonight, and I’m very proud of them.

“It’s the first time this season we’ve gotten ahead of a good team. That gave us a little confidence. And we got more confident as the game went on.

“Really, this is the only game we’ve had this year where we played 32 minutes of good team basketball."

Prairie (4-4, 1-3 MVC) had played well and shot well all season, even in losses.  The Hawks did neither against the spunky but undersized Trojans.

Waterloo East starting guards Arkell Todd and Corshoundus Love are 5-foot-1 and 5-3, respectively, and no one’s taller than 6-3 on the East team.

They played their hearts out Tuesday night, even holding their own on the boards with the taller Hawks.

“Anytime you have a scrappy bunch like that that comes out ready to play, you’d better take them out of their game right away,” Moses said.  “We didn’t do that. We had too many turnovers and too many missed shots early on. We let them set the tone.

“I thought we were disoriented the whole night.”

In what was far too typical on this night, for instance, always-steady Prairie point guard Jace Hanna had a wide-open layup with 1:20 to go in the game with East ahead 52-44.

The ball trickled off the rim.

Thomas praised his plucky players for their hard-nosed defense. But he admitted that wasn’t the whole story.

“We knew Prairie has a very good shooting team," he said. "But sometimes the ball goes in, and sometimes the ball rims out.”

That’s mostly what happened in the first quarter, when the Hawks could muster only five points and trailed by six.  The Trojans  maintained the margin at halftime and came back after the break fired up.

“Keep workin’ the ball ‘til we get what we want,” exhorted Thomas, whose team is now 3-5 and 1-3 in MVC play.  That often meant getting the ball to sophomore sharpshooter Daeton Hoskins, who was playing his first game of the season after being academically ineligible.  He hit three 3-pointers in the second half and led his team with 22 points.

“That’s what I’m talkin’ about,” Thomas yelled when Hoskins nailed a long one with 4:10 to go to put Waterloo ahead 43-38. Prairie never got any closer and trailed 58-48 with 18 seconds left.

Leading Hawk scorer Matt MacDougall, who was both playing sick and celebrating his 18th birthday, hit the last of his 22 points for the night to finish the game.

“We had a lot of missed opportunities at the end,” Moses said. “And we didn't show enough patience on offense.

“But the fact is, we got beat in every single aspect tonight.”

WATERLOO EAST (58): Corshoundus Love 3 3-4 9, Terryon Hudley 5 0-0 12, Arkell Todd 1 3-6 5, Andrew McGrain 2 1-4 6, Daeton Hoskins 7 4-6 22, Octavious Evans 0 0-0 0, Jammone Culp 2 0-0 4, D.J. Jones 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 11-20 58.

PRAIRIE (50): Jacob Aune 4 0-1 8, Brooks Kehoe 2 0-0 4, Jace Hanna 2 2-4 7, Garrett Rasmussen 0 0-0 0, Tom Eilers 0 2-2 2, Matt MacDougall 7 7-15 22, Ty Mougin 1 1-2 3, Kentrel Smith 1 2-2 4, Bryce Meeker 0 0-0 0, Mitch Adams 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 14-26 50.

Halftime – Waterloo East 25, Prairie 19. 3-point goals – Waterloo East 7 (Hoskins 4, Hudley 2, McGrain), Prairie 2 (Hanna, MacDougall). Total fouls – Waterloo East 18, Prairie 17. Fouled out – none.

Paige nets 33 as No. 3 Lions stop Prairie

There were two great jazz performances in the Cedar Rapids Prairie gym Friday night.

One was by the Prairie pep band, which calls itself "The Art of Noiz," for good reason.

The other was by Marcus Paige.

Linn-Mar's jazzy point guard tossed in 33 points to help the third-ranked Lions survive Prairie, 68-60, in a spirited Mississippi Valley Conference game.

Prairie Coach James Moses and Linn-Mar boss Chris Robertson both had a difference of opinion with the officials and drew technical fouls, but the best fireworks were provided by Paige with his behind-the-back passes, crossover dribbles and smooth moves to the bucket.

He'll be making those moves next year for Roy Williams and the North Carolina Tar Heels.

"Marcus can be as good as he wants to be," said Moses, who was a smooth operator himself during his playing days at Iowa. "And I think Roy Williams is definitely - once he gets his hands on him - will push Marcus even more and we'll see even a better Marcus."

Paige nailed 16 of 17 free throws, drilled a trio of 3-pointers and left the gym with a 28-point scoring average.

"He's probably a once-in-a-lifetime guy," Robertson remarked. "He's so special. His skill level is so high. I'm glad we're not guarding him."

Paige made 12 straight foul shots in the final 4:02 in front of a spirited crowd to keep Prairie at bay, making him 16 of 17 overall. "I knew I missed one," he said, "but I guess that's not too bad."

Paige made 81.0 percent of his free throws last year and is hitting 84.2 percent this season. He'd like to make 90 percent and said he worked on his foul shots during the summer, along with all aspects of his game. He thinks he's improved in all areas.

"I definitely think there's been a big improvement," he said. "And as my ankle starts feeling better, I think I'll be more comfortable changing direction and stuff. It's still a little sore."

Paige sprained his ankle the day before the season opener, but has played through the pain and discomfort. "It felt pretty good today," he said. "I've got a long break to rest it up and get it better. By our next game I should be 100 percent."

Linn-mar won't play again until a trip to Waterloo West on Tuesday, Jan. 3 in 2012.

The Lions snapped a two-game losing streak Friday with their gritty win at Prairie. Linn-Mar lost to Iowa City West last Friday and fell at Cedar Falls Tuesday night in overtime.

"It's been awhile since we needed a win going into Christmas, and we felt like we really needed a win tonight," said Robertson, whose club went a spotless 26-0 last year. "That's a good win.

"This is a much improved Prairie team," he said. "This is a Prairie team that has a lot of guys that have played three and four years in the Valley and they're starting to have success.

"They're playing well, they're playing with confidence. We knew this was going to be a very tough road game for us."

Derik Gogg, a slender 6-foot-8 junior, gave Linn-Mar a boost with 11 points against the Hawks. Matt Meier, a 6-foot junior, also chipped in 11 markers as the Lions won their first game since Matt Lassen got hurt last Friday.

"We've been a little inconsistent around Marcus," Robertson said. "One night somebody will step up and another night it will be somebody different. Now we need two or three guys stepping up every night."

Lassen sat with his teammates during the first half Friday night, but went home at halftime as planned. Lassen is recovering from a head injury and has been told to avoid long stretches in bright, noisy gyms - like it was at Prairie.

The Lions and Hawks battled to a 26-26 draw in the first half, but Linn-Mar found a way to slow down Matt MacDougall after the 6-foot-4 senior had burned them for 16 points in the first two quarters. MacDougall scored only three points in the second half as Linn-Mar gradually imposed its will on the hosts.

Moses thought Linn-Mar controlled the game in the second half, thanks to its talented point guard. "It speaks volumes to Marcus Paige," he said. "His team was able to stay poised when it needed to be."

MacDougall finished with 19 points for Prairie (4-3, 1-2) and Jace Hanna tossed in 16, including 14 markers in the second half. The Hawks also got a boost from Jacob Aune, who made a surprise appearance and scored eight points.

Aune suffered a concussion last Friday against Washington and didn't think he'd be able to play this week, but he sparked the Hawks with a good performance off the bench.

Linn-Mar grabbed an 11-point lead at 48-37 on a putback by Gogg with slightly more than five minutes left in the game. Paige made it a 12-point game at 56-44 with 2:07 left with a pair of free throws, but Prairie would not call it a night.

The Hawks pulled within 63-57 with 36.5 seconds remaining on a pair of free throws by Hanna and got within 66-60 on a 3-pointer by Thomas Eilers with 23.4 seconds to go, but the rally ended there.

Paige made his last two foul shots with 13.9 seconds left to cement the victory.

LINN-MAR (68): Zach Martins 0 0-0 0, Marcus Paige 7 16-17 33, Jimmy Roth 3 0-3 6, Andy Henry 1 2-5 5, Derik Gogg 5 1-2 11, Nate Dick 0 0-0 0, Matt Meier 3 4-6 11, Jon Schlotterback 0 2-2 2. Totals 19 25-35 68.

PRAIRIE (60): Brooks Kehoe 0 0-0 0, Jace Hanna 6 2-2 16, Kentrel Smith 1 0-1 2, Matt MacDougall 5 7-8 19, Bryce Meeker 0 0-0 0, Thomas Eilers 2 1-2 7, Demetrius Harper 4 0-0 8, Jacob Aune 4 0-1 8, Tyler Mougin 0 0-0 0, Garrett Rasmussen 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 10-14 60.

Halftime - Linn-Mar 26, Prairie 26. 3-point goals - Linn-Mar 5 (Paige 3, Henry 1, Meier 1), Prairie 6 (Hanna 2, MacDougall 2, Eilers 2). Technical fouls - Linn-Mar Coach Chris Robertson, Prairie Coach James Moses. Fouled out - Kehoe.

Waterloo West tips Prairie boys, 56-54

WATERLOO -- Dale Jones scored 24 points to lead Waterloo West past Prairie, 56-54, Tuesday night in a Mississippi Valley Conference boys basketball game at West.

Kentrel Smith scored 13 points, Matt MacDougall 12 and Tom Eilers 11 for Prairie (4-2, 1-1 MVC).

Prairie battled back from a 36-26 halftime deficit. The Hawks rained in 12 3-pointers. Smith had four.

Prairie played without senior guard Jacob Aune, who suffered a concussion in the Hawks' game last Friday against Washington.

PRAIRIE (54): Brooks Kehoe 3 0-0 9, Jace Hanna 4 0-1 9, Kentrel Smith 4 1-2 13, Bryce Meeker 0 0-0 0, Matt MacDougall 5 1-1 12, Tom Eilers 3 2-2 11. Totals 19 4-6 54.

WATERLOO WEST (56): Dequan Moore 3 4-6 10, Malik Green 2 0-2 6, DiMarco Mallett 2 0-0 4, Carderrius Smith 0 1-2 1, Tyshawn Roby 1 1-2 3, Alex Young 1 0-0 2, Dale Jones 8 4-4 24, Xavier Hightower 3 0-2 6. Totals 20 10-18 56.

Halftime -- Waterloo West 36, Prairie 26. 3-point goals -- Prairie 12 (Kehoe 3, Hanna 1, Smith 4, MacDougall 1, Eilers 3), West 6 (Green 2, Jones 4). Totals fouls -- Prairie 18, Waterloo West 13.