Courteney McCrary made 3 of 4 free throws in the closing seconds to rally No. 10 Prairie past No. 8 Iowa City High, 45-44, Friday night in a Mississippi Valley Conference girls basketball game at Prairie.

After making one of two free throws in her second-to-last-trip to the charity stripe, McCrary exercised the fact that no one blocked her out, she recovered her second free throw miscue, was fouled, and with 0:00.2 left on the clock, she converted two free throws that gave Prairie the victory.  The Hawks intercepted a long in-bound pass as the final horn went off preserving the victory.

Both coaches were frustrated a bit with the amount of turnovers throughout the contest, but perhaps this was due to the fact that defensive intensity and excellent anticipation on passes and covering passing lanes was evident throughout the evening.

The first quarter was dead even at 11.  Prairie held a 24-21 halftime lead. City High clamped down in the third quarter and had two spurts in building an eight-point lead.  City High led throughout the fourth quarter until McCrary converted the final free throws.

Prairie converted 13 of 20 free throws and City High was 7 for 17. 

City High Coach Bill McTaggart said he wanted to create turnovers and felt that his squad has been improving defensively.  “We want to cut down on our own turnovers, too”  He was hoping for continued improvement on the inside game—it looked like it was getting better—but the failed measure to block out shooter McGrary on the final free throws proved costly.

Post player Sierra Chambers led the Little Hawks (9-3, 5-3) with 16 points. Mickey Hansche canning three 3-pointers and finished with 11 points. Hansche missed all five of her free throw attempts.

Prairie (8-3, 6-2) had a very balanced scorecard—Madison Dellamuth had 13, Alisa Weiland 9, and McCrary, Emilie Rotte, and Cyerra Hutchins chipped in with 8, 7, and 7 points, respectively.

Prairie hits the road to Dubuque to face Senior in their next contest on Tuesday.

PRAIRIE (45):  Katilyn Yanecek 0 0-0 0; Cyerra Hutchins 3 1-4 7; Alisa Weiland 4 0-0 9; Courteney McCrary 2 4-6 8; Madison Dellamuth 4 4-4 13; Mackenzie Serbousek 0 1-2 1; Emilie Rotter 2 3-4 7. Totals 15 13-20 45.

IOWA CITY HIGH (44): Kiera Washpun 3 1-3 7; Erin Danielson 0 0-1 0; Jordan Sullivan 0 0-0 0; Mickey Hansche 4 0-0 11; Harper Beasley 0 1-2 1; Sierra Chambers 8 0-5 16; Katherine Van der Woud 0 0-0 0; Haley Lorenzen 2 3-4 7; Aliyah Gustafson 0 2-2 2. Totals 17 7-17 44.

Halftime - Prairie 24, City High 21. 3-point goals - Prairie 2 (Weiland 1, Dellamuth 1), City High 3 (Hansche 3).