Recovering nicely from their first loss of the season last Friday at Waterloo West, the Kennedy girls turned Prairie inside out Tuesday night at home in a 60-39 romp.

The Class 5A seventh-ranked Cougars (6-1, 4-1 MVC) were clicking on all cylinders with a strong inside game matched by efficient outside shooting.

They made the most of their superior size, and they wore down the Hawks with speed and depth in an up-tempo pace.

About all that Prairie had going right was slick senior sharpshooter Madison Dellamuth, who scored 20 points with four 3-pointers on 8-for-13 shooting.

“She's an outstanding player, which is why she's going to have her college paid for,” Kennedy Coach Tony Vis said the Bradley University-bound point guard.

“She hurt us in the first half (with 12 points), but we used a junk defense on her in the second and got a better handle on her.”

With Dellamuth held somewhat in check, the Hawks had nowhere to turn.

The Cougars, meanwhile, again displayed a balanced attack.

Plucky point guard hit Jordan Holmes knocked down three 3-pointers to lead her team to a 20-12 lead.

That freed-up big girls Stephanie Botkin and Morgan Martin down low, and wing players Madi Meir and Paige Hendrickson on the perimeter.

All of them contributed.

Martin scored 10 of her 12 points in the first half, and Hendrickson made 11 of her team-leading 15 in the second stanza.

“We stuck a lot of 3's at the start,” said the steady senior Hendrickson. “When they played us tighter, we were able to get it to the posts down low or drive on them.”

With Prairie's only true post player, 5-foot-10 senior Chrisandra Freeman, out with a leg injury, the Hawks were stymied.

“Our defense was great," Hendrickson said. “Our posts really stopped them.”

Vis, too, said he was pleased with the defensive effort.

“We limited their points in the paint. And we were a little bit deeper and had a little bit more size. We just kept wearing them down.”

The Hawks (4-3, 3-2 MVC) led only once in the game at 8-6 with Dellamuth hitting her first three shots (two from behind the arc).

After that, Kennedy kept pouring it on.

“Our defense was just not very good all night,” said Prairie Coach Steve Doser. “We struggled. We never had all five playing defense at the same time. And when that happens, you get burned.

“On offense, we were not able to get the ball inside. When our outside shots weren't falling we were in trouble.”

PRAIRIE (39): Cyerra Hutchins 2 2-5 7, Emilie Rotter 0 2-2 2, Olivia Usher 2 2-2 7, Madison Dellamuth 8 0-0 20, Makenzie Stoffer 0 0-0 0, Taylor Moenk 0 0-0 0, Maddie Adams 0 0-0 0, Lynsey Altenhofen 1 0-0 3, Cassidy Kuehl 0 0-0 0, Savanna Hutchins 0 0-0 0, Emily Machula 0 0-0 0, Katherine Pieper 0 0-0 0. Totals 13 6-9  39.

KENNEDY (60): Madi Meier 3 1-1 8, Jordan Holmes 3 0-0 9, Paige Hendrickson 4 6-7 15, Stephanie Botkin 4 0-0 8, Morgan Martin 6 0-1 12, Carly Langhurst 0 3-4 3, Abby Hellweg 0 0-3 0, Sydney Hayden 1 0-0 3, Brinley Milbrath 1 0-0 2, Madi Hennessey 0 0-0 0, Mariah Vis 0 0-0 0, Sarah Ryder 0 0-0 0, Katelyn Dye 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 10-15 60.

Halftime – Kennedy 32, Prairie 21. 3-point goals – Prairie 7 (Dellamuth 4, C. Huthchins 1, Altenhofen 1, Usher 1), Kennedy 6 (Holmes 3, Meier 1, Hayden 1, Hendrickson 1). Total fouls – Prairie 19, Kennedy 12. Fouled out – None.