It may have been bitter cold outside the Prairie gymnasium Tuesday night, but it was Sommer time inside.

Twin sisters Kristie and Katie Sommer combined for 37 points to lead the Linn-Mar girls to an easy 57-36 romp over the short-handed Hawks.

Prairie was without influenza-bitten playmaker and point producer Madison Dellamuth, and it showed.

“We were completely out-of-sync on both ends of the floor,” said Hawks Coach Steve Doser. “We were looking for some leadership, but we didn't see what we wanted. We looked lost.”

The dynamic Sommer girls, meanwhile, seemed right at home.

The senior transfers from Dubuque Senior, who moved here last summer when their mother took a new job, scored every point as the Lions charged out to a 17-7 first quarter lead.

And Kristie Sommer, the slightly taller and less talkative of the two, became just the eighth Linn-Mar girl to score 1,000 points in her high school career when she swished two 3-pointers in a row midway through the fourth quarter.

“I knew I was close to 1,000,” she said later. “But I wasn't counting. I was surprised when Coach subbed for me and told me.”

According to her more chatty point guard twin Katie, who is closing in on the 1,000-point mark herself, it's a big deal to reach that scoring level.

“For one thing, she's been a starter on the varsity for four years,” said Katie Sommer, who played only part-time as a freshman. “And it means she's averaged, what, at least 10 points a game since then?”

With 1,001 points and counting, Kristie Sommer is likely to move up to fifth on the Linn-Mar list within weeks, counting her points at Dubuque Senior and Linn-Mar.

Kiah Stokes leads the chart with 1,704 points, while first-year Lions assistant Jaime Printy is second at 1,391.

“It's hard to do,” said Printy, who finished a stellar career at Iowa last season. “It's a huge achievement for her. Awesome.”

Coach Michael Brandt knew beforehand Sommer had to get 19 points Tuesday night and took her out as soon as she hit the back-to-back treys to reach 20.

“For her to score that many points in our (Mississippi Valley) league is very tough,” he said. “It's a really important achievement.”

And as she proved against Prairie, she's an extremely efficient scorer. Kristie Sommer was six of 10 Tuesday night, including three of six from long range.

In scoring 17 points of her own, Katie Sommer was seven for 13 and one of two from behind the arc. If one didn't make a basket in the first quarter, the other did.

The Hawks (4-4, 3-3 MVC), on the other hand, could generate no offense. Five-foot-3 sophomore Lynsey Altehnhofen, who filled in for Dellamuth, earned Doser's praise for playing a fine floor game. And she popped in two 3-pointers.

Power player Cyerra Hutchins tied Altenhofen for team honors with eight points, but she had to work for every one of them.

Linn-Mar out-rebounded Prairie, 34-20.

“I was very disappointed with our team defense,” said Doser. “And we never got into any kind of flow on offense.”

Brandt, whose Lions are 5-0 in the MVC Valley division and 8-2 overall, said he couldn't find anything to complain about. “I was very happy with our intensity,” he said.

For the Sommer girls, meanwhile, it was a night of celebration, soon to be repeated when Katie Sommer makes the 1,000 mark.

Both are being recruited at the Division III college level for basketball and softball but are also considering softball alone at Division I schools, including Iowa State.

Softball is not necessarily their best or favorite sport, Katie Sommer noted. But at 5-foot-4 and five-foot-7, they may be a bit undersized for big-time hoops. “Size matters more in basketball,” she pointed out.

As to whether they'll end up at the same place next year, Katie Sommer said, “We seem to be a package deal.”

LINN-MAR (57): Kristie Sommer 6 5-6 20, Katie Sommer 7 2-4 17, Aryn Jones 1 0-0 2, Olivia Montague 2 0-0 5, Nikita Sharma 0 0-0 0, Taylor Robertson 0 3-4 3, Emily Makinster 2 0-0 4, Allie Akers 0 0-0 0, Claire Larson 1 2-4 4, Brittney Lancial 0 0-0 0, Natalie Ross 1 0-0 2, Darby Hayslett 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 12-18 57.

PRAIRIE (36): Cyerra Hutchins 2 4-7 8, Emilie Rotter 2 0-1 5, Olivia Usher 0 3-4 3, Makenzie Stoffer 2 1-2 5, Lynsey Altenhofen 3 0-0 8, Chrisandra Freeman 0 4-4 4, Maddie Adams 0 1-2 1, Cassidy Kuehl 1 0-0 2, Savanna Hutchins 0 0-0 0, Katherine Pieper 0 0-0 0. Totals 10 13-20 36.

Halftime – Linn-Mar 31, Prairie 17. 3-point goals – Linn-Mar 5 (Kr.Sommer 3, Ka.Sommer 1, Montague 1), Prairie 3 (Altenhofen 2, Rotter 1). Total fouls – Linn-Mar 21, Prairie 15. Fouled out – none.