If family history has anything to do with it, Johnson Hall could be the next home court for Cedar Rapids Jefferson guard Jacob Olson.

The crafty senior guard, with his brother, Taylor, looking on, seemed right at home playing on the Kirkwood Community College hardwood. He scored a game-high 18 points as the J-Hawks downed Cedar Rapids Prairie, 64-44, in the opening game of the Metro Sports Report Classic Pride Challenge, which benefitted the Salvation Army.

Taylor Olson is a sophomore at Kirkwood in his second year as a starter. Jacob didn’t do anything Saturday to hurt his chances of maybe joining the Eagles.

“I like the team (at Kirkwood),” he said. “I like the coaches and I like the way they play. This might be a good place for me.”

It was a good place for Olson on Saturday. He orchestrated the J-Hawks’ attack and was nearly perfect from the foul line, going 11-for-12.

“Jacob is obviously a starter back for us from last year,” said Jefferson Coach Stu Ordman. “We have a lot of things go through him, but we are trying to get other guys involved so we don’t have to be so reliant on him.”

Olson was pleased with the way his teammates responded. Junior Lucas Larson had some impressive moves around the basket and finished with 17 points. Sophomore Adam Van Oort came off the bench to contribute 11 points.

“I thought we were pretty good today,” Olson said. “We made a lot of clutch plays when we needed them. We have a lot of young guys and they are still learning. We will just have to take it game by game.”

The game, which doesn’t count on either team’s record, was approached differently by the coaches. Ordman stuck with his regular rotation for much of the game. Prairie’s James Moses often opted to substitute in groups of five, using the contest to see all of his players in action.

“We got a chance to see a lot of kids,” Moses said. “We got a great opportunity to see where we are at. We used this as a scrimmage to get ready for our season. I think our kids did a lot of great things, but this gave us a chance to get a look at things and see what we have to work on before opening on Tuesday night.”

One thing both teams will have to work on is not fouling. The two teams combined for 53 fouls and 60 free throws were shot.

“We are very inexperienced, so I thought it was good for us to get in a full game that was officiated,” Ordman said. “We showed today that we have a number of things we need to work on.”

Prairie was led in scoring by junior Mitch Lorenz, who finished with 14 points.

“I really like this concept,” Moses said. “We were doing this for a great cause and I really appreciate Metro Sports Report giving all the teams an opportunity to come out here and play today.

“This was a good measure for us to see where we are,” he added. “We can take Sunday as a day of rest, then come back on Monday and know what we have to work on for Tuesday night.”

C.R. PRAIRIE (44): Michael Mims 3 0-0 6, Kentrel Smith 2 0-1 5; Bryce Meeker 0 0-0 0 Mitch Lorenz 3 6-7 14; JoJo Simpson 3 0-1 7; Jalen Rima 1 4-6 6, Cal Clark 0 0-0 0; Coen Brown 0 0-0 0; Dylan Kuchemann 0 1-6 1; Austin Fisher 2 0-0 6; Austin Schrader 0 0-0 0; Nick Benson 0 0-0 0; Zach Meyer 0 0-0 0; Drew Yanacek 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 11-21 44.

C.R. JEFFERSON (64): Jacob Olson 3 11-12 18; Jake Van Oort 1 0-0 2; Brandon Wiederin 0 0-0 0; Lucas Larson 6 5-7 187 Tyler Konigsmark 2 4-4 8; Brock Hunt 1 0-2 2; Adam Van Oort 3 2-4 11; Kevonte Jones 0 0-0 0; Davis Hall 0 2-2 2; Blake Galvin 0 0-0 0; Jacob Hansen 0 0-0 0; Brandon Wise 0 1-2 1; Curt Waltmann 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 28-39 64.

C.R. Prairie            8    8  13  15 – 44
C.R. Jefferson      13  19  16  15 – 64

3-point goals: Prairie 5 (Lorenz 2, Fisher 2, Smith); Jefferson 4 (A. Van Oort 3, Olson). Total fouls: Prairie 29, Jefferson 24. Fouled out: J. Van Oort, Larson, Simpson. Technical fouls: none.