Prairie Girls Basketball

Hutchins' 18 points pace Prairie girls past J-Hawks

Sophomore Cyerra Hutchins scored 16 of her 18 points in the second half and Prairie raced past injury-plagued Jefferson, 61-37, Friday night in a Mississippi Valley Conference girls basketball game at Prairie.

“She did a good job being aggressive and attacking the basket in the second half,” Prairie coach Steve Doser said of Hutchins.

“I wasn’t mentally in the game in the first half,” Hutchins said. “My teammates fired me up and coach said to drive in the second half.”

Jefferson came into the game with just eight healthy girls available, three that had never played significant high school minutes. By the end of the first half the J-Hawks were down another starter and all but out of the game. Junior forward Rachel Broghammer went down with an apparent ankle injury at the end of the half. The severity of the injury is unknown at this time.

Taylor Jacobson is still out for Jefferson with an ankle sprain and sophomore Kieley Brathwaite injured her knee in a JV game Monday. Jacobson is likely out until after Christmas, Brathwaite at least a week.

Jefferson’s shorthanded bench takes nothing away from the young Prairie Hawks' big win. The Hawks (3-1, 2-0 MVC) were missing starting senior Katilyn Yanecek who is out with a concussion. Prairie counted on a pair of juniors, a pair of seniors, and a pair of freshman to get the majority of the job done. Sophomore Madison Dellamuth had 13 points.

“Neither of us sub many girls,” Doser said. “We wanted to run and attack.”

Prairie executed its plan from the opening tip, jumping to a 6-2 lead. The Hawks ended the first quarter of play up 15-9 and never looked back.

Prairie’s press and active man defense gave Jefferson trouble all night as the Hawks use turnovers and poor J-Hawk shooting to extend the lead in each quarter.

After leading by 11 at the break, Hutchins and the Hawks got easy points to push their lead to 19 and all but put the game out of reach by the end of the third quarter.

Juniors Maddie Koolbeck and Kaitlyn Davidson led the J-Hawks (1-2, 0-2) with 11 points each.

JEFFERSON (37): Kaitlyn Davidson 3 2-2 11, Maddy Blietz 4 0-0 8, Dani Stromert 1 1-2 3, Rachel Broghammer 1 2-2 4, Maddie Koolbeck 5 1-1 11, Kylie Jonas 0 0-0 0, Hannah Towns 0 0-0 0, Molly Evans 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 6-7 37.

PRAIRIE (61): Emily Rotter 3 1-2 7, Cyerra Hutchins 9 0-1 18, Alisa Weiland 4 0-0 11, Courteney McCrary 3 2-2 8, Madison Dellamuth 6 1-1 13, Mackenzie Serbousek 2 0-1 4, Abby Ganske 0 0-0 0, Allison Neuhaus 0 0-0 0, Taylor Sanders 0 0-0 0, Kiana Jackson 0 0-0 0, Josie Wagner 0 0-0 0, Marisa Adams 0 0-0 0. Totals 27 4-7 61.

Halftime – Prairie 29, Jefferson 18. 3-Point Goals – Jefferson 3 (Davidson 3), Prairie 3 (Weiland 3), Total Fouls – Jefferson 7, Prairie 8.

Speedy Hawks sprint past Hempstead

Prairie unleashed a tenacious defense in the second quarter when it outscored Dubuque Hempstead by 15 points and sprinted past the Mustangs, 66-48, Tuesday night in a girls basketball game at Prairie.

“We’ve got the speed so we use it to our advantage,” said Prairie's Cyerra Hutchins, who repeatedly beat Hempstead down the court and wound up with a game-high 16 points. “It’s my job to get down there and my teammates are really good at getting the ball to me when I get there.”

The primary “driver” of Prairie’s fast break was sophomore Madison Dellamuth, who contributed 13 points to go with an outstanding floor game.

“Chemistry is everything.  We just know where everybody is going to be and we can rely on each other to score when it’s our turn,” explained Dellamuth.

Maybe the most improved player from last season is Courteney McCrary. Hutchins and McCrary managed to hold their own on the boards against a much bigger Hempstead team and McCrary also dropped in 10 points.

“I worked hard all summer and we understand what everybody is doing so much more than last year that I just have confidence that we can get it done,” said McCrary.

The fourth starter in double figures was Alisa Weiland, who complemented the Hawks' fast-break offense from the perimeter, knocking down 12 points.

“We just have a nice group of young players that are extremely competitive, work hard to get better, and want to do well together,” said Prairie Coach Steve Doser.  “They just enjoy the game, enjoy each other, and the chemistry is amazing.”

Doser's first-quarter timeout, with his team down 11-6, lit a fire under the Hawks, who used a relentless three-quarter court trapping defense to build a 15-13 lead by the end of the first quarter. Prairie (2-1, 1-0) continued to use that tenacious defense and its team quickness to stretch their lead to 39-22 by halftime.

Haley Van Cleve, Brittani Graves and Hope Koerperich each had 10 points for Hempstead (1-1, 0-1).

Next up for Prairie is Jefferson at home on Friday.

DUBUQUE HEMPSTEAD(48) Van Cleve 3 4-10 10, Doty 3 0-0 8, Cox 1 0-0 3, Graves 4 2-2 10, Hope Koerperich 5 0-0 10, Dolan 2 1-2 5, Tauke 0 0-0 0, Lattner 1 0-0 2, Yager 0 0-0 0, Brown 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 7-14 48.

PRAIRIE(66): Yanecek 0 0-0 0, Hutchins 7 2-4 16, Weiland 4 2-2 12, McCrary 4 0-0 10, Dellamuth 6 1-1 13, Rotter 3 0-0 6, Serbousek 3 3-3 9, Neuhaus 0 0-0 0, Adams 0 0-0 0, Jackson 0 0-0 0, Ganske 0 0-0 0, Sanders 0 0-0 0. Totals 27 8-10 66.

Halftime — Prairie 39, Hempstead 22. 3-point goals — Hempstead 3 (Doty 2, Cox 1)  Prairie 4 (Weiland 2, McCrary 2). Fouled out -- None.

Prairie girls top Mount Pleasant, 58-38

MOUNT PLEASANT - Courteney McCrary scored 14 points and grabbed seven rebounds Friday night as Cedar Rapids Prairie dunked Mount Pleasant, 58-38, in a non-conference girls basketball game.

Alisa Weiland collected 12 points and six assists for the Hawks (1-1). Cyerra Hutchins scored 11 points, Emilie Rotter snared seven rebounds and Madison Dellamuth had six assists in a balanced effort.

"We played well," Prairie Coach Steve Doser said. "We're going to be fun to watch."

Prairie led by only three points at halftime, 23-20, but blitzed Mount Pleasant (1-1) in the second half by 17 points.

PRAIRIE (58): Yanacek 1 0-2 2, Hutchins 4 3-6 11, Weiland 5 2-2 12, McCrary 7 0-0 14, Dellamuth 2 4-6 9, Serbousek 2 0-2 4, Rotter 3 0-1 6, Adams 0 0-0 0, Ganske 0 0-0 0, Wagner 0 0-0 0, Meyer 0 0-0 0, Sanders 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 9-19 58.

MOUNT PLEASANT (38): Taylor Shull 8 5-7 21, Taryne Shull 1 4-6 7, Phipps 2 2-3 6, Meyers 1 0-0 2, Taylor 0 2-2 2, Lutovsky 0 0-1 0, Booton 0 0-0 0, Johnson 0 0-0 0, Fry 0 0-0 0. Totals 12 13-18 38.

Halftime - Prairie 23, Mount Pleasant 20. 3-point goals - Dellamuth, Taryne Shull.

No. 9 Muscatine escapes Hawks' upset bid

In a fast-paced and entertaining girls basketball season opener, highly regarded Muscatine barely eked out a 66-63 squeaker over newly-energized Prairie Saturday night on the Hawks’ home court.

“It was a fun game to watch,” said Prairie Coach Steve Doser. “We lost, but I’m really pleased with how the girls played.

“We start two sophomores, two juniors and one senior. And the first two girls off the bench are freshmen. So we’re a very young team.

“But we’ve got great chemistry. And I know we’ll keep improving.”

Winners of just four games last year, the Hawks came close to pulling an upset right out of the gate against the Class 4A ninth-ranked Muskies from the Mississippi Athletic Conference.

Prairie dug itself out of an early hole and actually took a lead at 52-50 with five minutes to go.

The Hawks fell back again by six, but then made a late spurt to come within a point at 64-63 with 38 seconds to go.

Muscatine’s cool 5-foot-4 sophomore playmaker Emily Clemens iced the game by dropping in two free throws.

“We had a chance,” said Doser.

For his spunky young girls, the narrow defeat was a confidence-builder.

“I think it showed we can play with anybody in the state this year,” said junior Courteney McCrary, who led a balanced scoring effort with 17 points.

“We’re playing with a lot more energy. And we were still in the game right to the end. We just kept fighting.”

Katilyn Yanecek, the sole upperclassmen in the Hawk rotation, chipped in 14 points and promised an exciting season ahead.

“We came out ready to play. Our fans are going to be entertained this year.”

Muscatine Coach Sue Orvis was just happy to come out with a win in her team’s tip-off.

“I think both teams had some first-game jitters at the start. And we both play an up-tempo game, so you’re going to have some mistakes.

“But once we settled in, it was a great game.”

And she was fortunate to have three-year starter Leticia Lerma on fire for the night.

Though listed at 5-10, the junior sharpshooter plays taller than that, especially against a short Prairie squad that starts no one over 5-8.

Lerma scored inside and out for 28 points, including a long 3-pointer and a conventional three-point play in the last three minutes to keep her team ahead.

She was hot early, too, leading the Muskies to a 30-23 halftime margin.

But the Hawks came out soaring in the second half.

Yanecek drained a long jumper, court magician Madison Dellamuth scored her first basket of the night and Yanecek converted a steal into a lay-up to pull Prairie to within a point.

A 3-pointer by Alisa Weiland on a nice feed from Dellamuth knotted the score at 32 with five minutes left in the third quarter.

Prairie took its first lead of the game a minute later, and Dellamuth extended it to five on her only 3-pointer of the night with two minutes left.

“I knew the next two possessions would be crucial,” Doser said afterward.

The crafty Lerma popped in seven straight points to end the period.

From there, it was an up-and-down, back-and-forth dog fight to the very end.

Prairie committed 28 turnovers but compensated somewhat by sinking 18 of its 20 free throw attempts.

"The turnovers hurt us, and we got out-rebounded," Doser said. "But I really liked our energy tonight."

MUSCATINE (66): Emily Clemens 3 7-10 15, Megan Thiese 2 0-0 4, Alex Walgren 2 0-0 5, Leticia Lerma 12 2-4 28, Megan Beauchamp 1 0-0 2, Sam Kistler 0 0-0 0, Katie Shoultz 1 2-5 4, Kaylie Miller 2 0-0 4, Shalyn Greenhaw 2 0-0 4. 25 11-19 66.

PRAIRIE (63): Katilyn Yanecek 4 6-7 14, Cyerra Hutchins 3 4-4 10, Alisa Weiland 3 3-4 11, Courteney McCrary 7 1-1 17, Madison Dellamuth 2 4-4 9, Abby Ganske 0 0-0 0, Emilie Rotter 1 0-0 2, Mackenzie Serbousek 0 0-0 0. 20 18-20 63.

Halftime – Muscatine 30, Prairie 23. 3-point goals – Muscatine 5 (Clemens 2, Lerma 2, Walgren), Prairie 5 (Weiland 2, McCrary 2, Dellamuth). Total fouls – Muscatine 20, Prairie 19. Fouled out – Walgren, Greenhaw.