Metro Sports Report

Hutchins sparks Prairie by J-Hawks

In a fast-paced duel from start to finish, the Jefferson girls had Prairie on the run early but faded halfway through and fell, 73-64, on their home turf Tuesday night.

“We felt lucky to be down by only one at halftime,” said Prairie Coach Steve Doser. “And I thought the first three minutes of the second half were really key.

“We came out a lot more aggressive. We really picked it up, had a great rebounding effort and made some shots. That was the difference.”

Down by as many as eight points in the first half, Prairie took its first lead at 33-32 right after the intermission on a long two-pointer by leading scorer Cyerra Hutchins.

Rock-solid all night in all phases of the game, the 5-foot -10 senior collected a career-high 24 points. But as is often the case with Prairie, as perennial all-conference point guard Madison Dellamuth goes, so go the Hawks.

Waukee too tall for Lions, 56-51

The Waukee Warriors strolled into the Linn-Mar gym Tuesday night with an imposing front line that stood 6-foot-10, 6-foot-8 and 6-foot-7, but the Lions simply got out their pea-shooters and began firing away.

The Lions almost chopped Waukee down to size, but the Warriors escaped with a 56-51 victory in the season opener for both teams before heading back into the fog for the trip home.

"I loved the way our guys competed. I thought we really battled," Linn-Mar Coach Chris Robertson remarked. "That's a tough matchup. We don't have anybody over 6-5.

"That's what I told them: Be disappointed with the result, but don't be disappointed with your effort."

Kennedy girls rout Cedar Falls, 67-45

When she was a sophomore, Madi Meier listened and learned.

Meier was part of a trio of talented sophomores who played with senior all-stater Courtney Strait in 2011-2012 . Strait made the point almost daily that the sophomores needed to be confident and play up to their abilities.

Now it is Meier’s senior season. The message she and teammates Paige Hendrickson and Jordan Holmes received hasn’t been forgotten. This season’s edition of the Cougars don’t have to rely on a trio of sophomores as they did in Strait’s time, but much of the depth comes from a trio of talented 10th graders off the bench.

That was evident in Tuesday night’s 67-45 victory over Cedar Falls. Coach Tony Vis was able to rotate 10 players in and out while the Tigers relied on a seven-player rotation.

Warriors whipped in 'perfect storm'

Washington and City High have had some memorable girls basketball games in recent history. They range from a state championship decided in the final second to another very physical match-up where teeth were flying along with elbows.

But never in recent history has there been a game like Tuesday’s when the third-ranked Little Hawks crushed the No. 10 Warriors 73-27.

“It was a night not to remember or it was a night to remember, and probably I’m going to choose to remember this night more than I’m going to choose to forget it,” Washington Coach Frank Howell said. “I’m going to do everything I can to make sure it never happens again.

“It was just one of those nights. It was just a perfect storm to get whupped.”