Prairie unleashed a tenacious defense in the second quarter when it outscored Dubuque Hempstead by 15 points and sprinted past the Mustangs, 66-48, Tuesday night in a girls basketball game at Prairie.

“We’ve got the speed so we use it to our advantage,” said Prairie's Cyerra Hutchins, who repeatedly beat Hempstead down the court and wound up with a game-high 16 points. “It’s my job to get down there and my teammates are really good at getting the ball to me when I get there.”

The primary “driver” of Prairie’s fast break was sophomore Madison Dellamuth, who contributed 13 points to go with an outstanding floor game.

“Chemistry is everything.  We just know where everybody is going to be and we can rely on each other to score when it’s our turn,” explained Dellamuth.

Maybe the most improved player from last season is Courteney McCrary. Hutchins and McCrary managed to hold their own on the boards against a much bigger Hempstead team and McCrary also dropped in 10 points.

“I worked hard all summer and we understand what everybody is doing so much more than last year that I just have confidence that we can get it done,” said McCrary.

The fourth starter in double figures was Alisa Weiland, who complemented the Hawks' fast-break offense from the perimeter, knocking down 12 points.

“We just have a nice group of young players that are extremely competitive, work hard to get better, and want to do well together,” said Prairie Coach Steve Doser.  “They just enjoy the game, enjoy each other, and the chemistry is amazing.”

Doser's first-quarter timeout, with his team down 11-6, lit a fire under the Hawks, who used a relentless three-quarter court trapping defense to build a 15-13 lead by the end of the first quarter. Prairie (2-1, 1-0) continued to use that tenacious defense and its team quickness to stretch their lead to 39-22 by halftime.

Haley Van Cleve, Brittani Graves and Hope Koerperich each had 10 points for Hempstead (1-1, 0-1).

Next up for Prairie is Jefferson at home on Friday.

DUBUQUE HEMPSTEAD(48) Van Cleve 3 4-10 10, Doty 3 0-0 8, Cox 1 0-0 3, Graves 4 2-2 10, Hope Koerperich 5 0-0 10, Dolan 2 1-2 5, Tauke 0 0-0 0, Lattner 1 0-0 2, Yager 0 0-0 0, Brown 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 7-14 48.

PRAIRIE(66): Yanecek 0 0-0 0, Hutchins 7 2-4 16, Weiland 4 2-2 12, McCrary 4 0-0 10, Dellamuth 6 1-1 13, Rotter 3 0-0 6, Serbousek 3 3-3 9, Neuhaus 0 0-0 0, Adams 0 0-0 0, Jackson 0 0-0 0, Ganske 0 0-0 0, Sanders 0 0-0 0. Totals 27 8-10 66.

Halftime — Prairie 39, Hempstead 22. 3-point goals — Hempstead 3 (Doty 2, Cox 1)  Prairie 4 (Weiland 2, McCrary 2). Fouled out -- None.