Prairie Girls Basketball

Usher leads Prairie girls by Clinton

CLINTON - The Cedar Rapids Prairie girls basketball team moved a step closer to the .500 mark Monday night with a 47-36 victory at Clinton in a non-conference game.

Olivia Usher scored 15 points and Lauren Kuch added 10 as the Hawks raised their record to 6-7. Prairie raced to a 31-14 lead at halftime and settled for the 11-point victory.

Sydney Laufenburg scored 12 points for Clinton (3-11).

PRAIRIE (47): Schmitt 0 0-0 0, Moenk 0 0-0 0, Altenhofen 1 0-0 3, Adams 1 0-0 2, Usher 4 5-8 15, Wagemester 4 0-0 8, Kuch 4 0-0 10, Person 3 1-2 7, Stoffer 1 0-0 2. Totals 18 6-10 47.

CLINTON (36): Petersen 3 0-0 6, Gandrup 0 0-0 0, Greenwalt 1 0-1 2, Burken 2 0-0 4, Davis 1 3-4 5, Coppess 2 0-0 5, Goldensoph 0 2-2 2, Laufenburg 5 2-3 12. Totals 14 7-10 36.

Halftime - Prairie 31, Clinton 14. 3-point goals - Prairie 5 (Usher 2, Kuch 2, Altenhofen 1), Clinton 1 (Coppess 1).

Washington girls bump off Prairie

A packed house at the Washington gym Friday night got their money’s worth in the opening game of a doubleheader as the Warrior girls went right down to the wire to edge Prairie, 67-60.

It was a foul-plagued affair with 41 whistles, but fast-paced from start to finish.

And it wasn’t always pretty. Each team committed 20 turnovers. But it was exciting and entertaining the whole way.

"It was the kind of game you love to have on a Friday night,” Washington coach Frank Howell said. “Part of a doubleheader with more life in the gym. And a close game between two evenly matched teams.

“Both teams played really hard. Whichever team was going to win was going to deserve it. I’m sure it was a fun one to watch.”

That it was.

For one thing, the Warriors (8-6) relied mostly on crowd-pleasing 3-point shots. They took 31 of them (three more than their 2-point attempts). They made only nine from long range (for 29 percent), but they came at crucial times.

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Sellers shines like an All-American

Lela Sellers remembers as a little girl her mom saying that someday she might be on the McDonald’s All-American high school basketball team.

“I thought then, ‘Oh, that’s only for really good players,’” she said Tuesday night after it was announced to Kennedy fans that she has indeed been nominated for the prestigious national honor.

The smooth and unselfish 6-foot senior turned in an All-American performance on her home court with 30 seemingly effortless points to lead the Class 5A second-ranked Cougars to a 68-49 romp over the young but gritty Prairie Hawks.

“My real dream has always been to play in the WNBA (pro league),” said Sellers, who turned down major Big 10 and SEC schools to play next year at smaller but perennial Division I NCAA tournament qualifier Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va.

In addition to tying her career-best on 12-of-17 shooting with her future college coach in the crowd, she also led her team with 11 rebounds and four assists.

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Person leads Prairie girls by East

Halle Person scored 20 points to lead the Prairie girls basketball team in a 78-37 win over Waterloo East Friday in a Mississippi Valley Conference game at Prairie.

The Prairie Hawks led 25-8 after the first quarter and kept the pressure on the rest of the way.

Olivia Usher added 14 points for the Hawks (5-5), Sarah Schmitt had 12 points and Maggie Lampe scored 10.

Kerris Roberts scored 16 points to lead the Trojans (1-11).

WATERLOO EAST (37): Sisk 3 2-2 9, Clark 4 0-0 10, Roberts 6 2-6 16, Anderson 0 0-0 0, Sims 0 0-0 0, Watson 0 2-4 2, Kemp 0 0-0 0. Shannon 0 0-2 0. Totals 13 6-14 37.

PRAIRIE (78): Moenk 0 0-0 0, Altenhofen 3 0-1 8, Sanders 1 0-0 3, Lampe 4 2-4 10, Schmitt 4 2-4 12, Adams 0 2-2 2, Stebral 0 0-0 0, Usher 6 2-2 14, Shreeves 2 0-0 3, Kuch 2 0-2 5, Person 8 3-3 20. Totals 30 11-18 78.

Halftime – Prairie 44, Waterloo East 23. 3-point goals – Waterloo East 5 (Clark 2, Roberts 2, Sisk), Prairie 10 (Usher 3, Altenhofen 2, Schmitt 2, Sanders, Kuch, Person).