It was viewed as a battle royale between two Valley Division foes in a tight four-way bottleneck for supremacy in their division Friday night when Waterloo West came to town to take on the host Cedar Rapids Prairie Hawks.

It never happened.

The Wahawks left town with a 70-38 victory behind a massive 28-point production from Kate Letkewicz in her best offensive outing of the year.

“Best game we have played all year,” said Waterloo West Coach Anthony Pappas.

Unfortunately for West, the game did not count in the conference standings.

Prairie, with a 6-2 Mississippi Valley conference record going into the game and 9-4 overall, is tied for the Valley Division lead with Xavier and Cedar Rapids Washington. Waterloo West is a half-game behind.

Madison Dellamuth tallied 12 points for the Hawks and always-reliable shooter Alisa Weiland put in five field goals for 11 points.

Uncharacteristically, Prairie only got to the free throw line three times (totally by Cyerra Hutchins) and she was two-for-three from the charity stripe. Waterloo West converted on nearly all of its foul shots, making 12 of 13.

Letkewicz was without a doubt the offensive star for the West High squad with 11 field goals, with nearly half the 3-point variety.

“We came out and played hard from the start and this triggered our offensive play," said Pappas. "As we move through the season, we might need to slow it down at times, not get into too quick of decision-making, and stay patient on offense.

"It was a great defensive effort. I can’t give enough credit to our defense. Best game of the season for our team!”

Prairie has a non-conference date with Bettendorf on Saturday.

Blaire Thomas, only a junior and looking perhaps to play college basketball at Iowa State, scored 12 points for the visitors. Haley Puk contributed 12 points.

Thomas showed why she averages more than eight rebounds a game and is one of the state leaders in rebounding and intimidating players in the paint.

Sammie Sproul is the state leader in assists for Class 5A and should stay there after Friday’s contest. Her nifty passing accounts for more than six assists a contest.

WATERLOO WEST (70): Sammie Sproul 3 3-3 9, Kortni Pabst 0 0-0 0, Jasmina Husic 1 0-0 3, Haley Puk 3 4-5  12, Suvada Masinovic 1 0-0 2, Blaire Thomas 5 2-2 12, Jaclyn Spencer 1 2-2 4, Kaia Jones 0 0-0 0, Kate Letkewicz 11 1-1 28. Totals 25 12-13 70.

CEDAR RAPIDS PRAIRIE (38): Taylor Moenk 0 0-0 0, Cyerra Hutchins 3 2-3 8, Haley Street 0 0-0 0, Alisa Weiland 5 0-0 11, Courteney McCrary 2 0-0 5, Olivia Usher 0 0-0 0, Madison Dellamuth 5 0-0 12, Rachel Shelangoski 0 0-0 0, Chrisandra Freeman 1 0-0 2, Makenzie Stoffer 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 2-3 38.

Halftime - Waterloo West 24, Prairie 18. 3-point goals - Waterloo West 8 (Letkewicz 5, Puk 2, Husic 1), Prairie 4 (Dellamuth 2, Weiland 1, McCrary 1).