Last season Cedar Rapids Prairie led the Mississippi Valley Conference in 3-pointers taken and made.

If Tuesday night's 68-46 non-conference win over Davenport West is any indication, those numbers could go up this year.

"We have the ability to really shoot the ball," Prairie Coach James Moses said. "The main thing is how do we establish rhythm and continuity? That helps build and shape our confidence, and when we do that, we can play pretty well."

Prairie made 14 3-pointers on 34 attempts (41 percent). Six different Prairie Hawks made a 3-pointer.

"It's a beautiful thing when you have a team that can hit from the 3-point arc," Moses said.

Prairie will be tested this week with more MAC-action, taking on North Scott Thursday and Muscatine on Saturday.

"We have a lot of young players and we're still getting used to playing with each other," senior Kentrel Smith said.

To boost his team -- which came out sluggish and trailed 6-2 at the start of the first quarter -- Moses brought in five off the bench.

That group included sophomore Cal Clark, who hit the first 3-pointer of the night for the Prairie Hawks.

"Our first group was kind of lethargic," Moses said. "Our second group, led by Clark, just did an excellent job from start of finish."

Moses left the second five in to start the second quarter, and they rewarded him with a 10-0 run. Prairie led 37-21 at half.

The Prairie Hawks shot 9-of-19 (47 percent) from the arc in the first half.

"We knew that was one of their strengths, but with the new tagging rule, we were in a zone early to stay out of foul trouble," West Coach Mark Bigler said. "We lost track of a couple of their shooters."

Four of the top five Prairie scorers for the game were in that second group. Senior Dylan Kuchemann and junior Coen Brown led the Prairie Hawks with 11 points, Clark added 10 points and junior Austin Fisher had eight points.

Among the starters, junior Michael Mims had 10 points.

"Everyone got in the game, and everyone was having fun out there," Smith said.

The leading scorer was West's Nasir Shabazz. The junior point guard had 24 points. No other Falcon scored more than six points.

"There's just going to be growing pains," Bigler said. "The key is getting better every day. We've got a big learning curve to get where we can be competitive."

Prairie extended its lead to 28 points, 58-30, in the third quarter before the Falcons shaved a few off the final margin.

"I would like to see a little more finishes (going to the hoop) as we prepare for North Scott," Moses said. "We've got a great chance to play three games in this first week, and grow up pretty fast."

Prairie was 6-17 last season, and Davenport West was 9-14. North Scott was 20-4.

DAVENPORT WEST (46): Isaiah Ross 2-9 1-2 6, Nasir Shabazz 10-14 3-5 24, Keanan Butler 1-3 4-7 6, Michael Evans 0-1 0-0 0, Isaiah McClellon 0-2 0-0 0, Nick Moeller 0-1 1-3 1, Andrew Shipman 0-0 3-4 3, Davarea Loggins 1-3 3-4 5, Garrett Humphrey 0-0 0-0 0, Darius Teague 0-1 0-0 0, Jacob Erwin 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 14-35 15-25 46.

C.R. PRAIRIE (68): Michael Mims 3-5 1-2 10, Kentrel Smith 1-2 2-2 4, Bryce Meeker 0-1 1-2 1, Mitchell Lorenz 1-6 0-0 2, Jomaryon Simpson 3-8 0-0 8, Cal Clark 3-6 2-2 10, Austin Fisher 3-5 1-1 8, Dylan Kuchemann 4-8 0-3 11, Jalen Rima 1-3 0-0 2, Coen Brown 3-5 2-2 11, Nicholas Benson 0-1 0-2 0, Austin Schrader 0-0 0-0 0, Drew Yanecek 0-1 1-4 1, Brody Alberts 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 22-53 10-20 68.

Davenport West   10 11 11 14 - 46
C.R. Prairie           15 22 21 10 - 68

3-point goals - DW 2-11 (Ross 1-6, Shabazz 1-3, Loggins 0-1, Erwin 0-1), CRP 14-34 (Mims 3-5, Smith 0-1, Lorenz 0-3, Simpson 2-5, Clark 2-5, Fisher 1-2, Kuchemann 3-6, Brown 3-5, Yanecek 0-1, Alberts 0-1). Rebounds - DW 24 (Shabazz 5, Butler 5), CRP 39 (Lorenz 9). Turnovers - DW 23, CRP 17. Total fouls - DW 16, CRP 23. Fouled out - none.