A focused Linn-Mar remained unbeaten handing Prairie a 70-40 loss on the Hawks home court Friday night in a Mississippi Valley Conference boys basketball game.

It was a lesson learned from a slow first half the last time the No. 1 Lions (15-0, 10-0 MVC) played.

“We weren’t ready to at Waterloo East last Tuesday night and since we saw that they (the Hawks) gave Kennedy a tough game, we knew we couldn’t start off without focus in tonight’s game,” said Linn-Mar Coach Chris Robertson.  “Prairie works hard and they have improved a lot through the season.  We took advantage of our size, our experience, and aggressive defense to control the game.”

The Lions had balanced scoring.  Marcus Paige and Matt Bohannon each hit six field goals and scored 17 and 16 points, respectively. Ian McBrayer used his size inside to score 10 and Shane Benton added nine.

 “Linn-Mar is the best team we play,” said Prairie Coach James Moses.  “Their offensive execution makes them so balanced that they are difficult to contain.  They are physical and their size challenges our shooting.”

Matt MacDougall led the scoring for Prairie (3-13, 2-8) with 11 points; while Jacob Aune, Brandon Lafferty, and Brooks Kehoe each had six.

“We identified MacDougall and he got his points, but we made him earn them,” said Robertson.  “We can accept that.”

Linn-Mar plays Iowa City High on Tuesday. Prairie is at Dubuque Hempstead.

LINN-MAR (70):  Benton 3 3-4 9, Paige 6 4-5 17, Bohannon 6 3-4 16, McBrayer 5 0-1 10, Montague 1 2-2 4, Thul 0 1-2 1, Gogg 2 0-2 4, Krusie 0 0-0 0, Soyer 2 0-0 5, Lassen 0 0-0 0, Gentzler 1 2-3 4, Lancial 0 0-0 0, Hutchins, 0 0-0 0.  Totals 26 15-23 70.

PRAIRIE (40);  Frazier 2 0-0 4, Jantzen 0 0-0 0, Lafferty 12 2-3 6, MacDougall 5 1-2 11, Boots 0 0-0 0, Eilers 1 0-0 3, Aune 3 0-0 6, Hilgenkamp 0 0-0 0, Kehoe 2 0-0 6, Mougin 1 0-0 2, Dellamuth 0 0-0 0, Rasmussen 0 0-0 0, Goodale 0 0-0 0, Kelly 0 0-0 0, Schulte 1 0-0 2.  Totals 17 3-6 40.

 Halftime – Linn-Mar 35, Prairie 16  3-point goals – Linn-Mar 3 (Paige 1, Bohannon 1, Soyer 1), Prairie 3 (Kehoe 2, Eilers 1)  Fouled out: none.