Metro Sports Report

Hanna's shot lifts Prairie at buzzer

Jace Hanna showed Tuesday night that he can race 80 feet in less than four seconds when he has to.

So did James Moses.

Hanna drove the length of the court in the final seconds and hit a floater as time expired to give Cedar Rapids Prairie a dramatic 55-53 victory over Mount Pleasant in the Prairie gym.

Moments after Hanna hit his winning bucket, Moses flew out of his chair and raced around the court to celebrate the victory with his players and Prairie students. Moses moved almost as quickly as he did 20 years ago when he starred for the Iowa Hawkeyes.

"Don't let this big body fool you," he said with a big smile after the victory.

Prairie trailed by 10 points with 2:19 left, but the Hawks turned up the heat, hit clutch shots and caught a break when Mount Pleasant missed four of five free throws.

Lions outlast shorthanded J-Hawk girls

The die-hard Jefferson girls Tuesday night proved just as tough as their coach.

Despite surgery to remove kidney stones the day before, J-Hawk Coach Larry Niemeyer was on the bench to watch his seriously shorthanded team battle Linn-Mar tooth-and-nail in a 50-40 loss at home.

Calm, collected Cougars conquer Hempstead

Dubuque Hempstead held the lead midway through the first period, regained it in the second, and outscored Kennedy in the fourth.

But the Cougars kept their heads and rode balanced scoring to a 50-41 victory over the Mustangs Tuesday night at home.

Xavier girls drub Waterloo East, 82-25

Xavier Coach Tom Lilly had several goals for Tuesday night's game against Waterloo East.

He wanted to make a smooth transition from defense to offense and play up-tempo. He also wanted to use a zone defense, which is uncharacteristic for the Saints, to stay out of foul trouble.

Mission accomplished.

Xavier drubbed Waterloo East, 82-25, in a Mississippi Valley Conference girls basketball game at Xavier.