The Prairie Hawks had no answer for Kiah Stokes and the No. 3 Linn-Mar Lions Friday night (Dec. 17) in the Linn-Mar gym.  Linn-Mar hammered the Hawks, 52-23.

Stokes dominated the lane with 14 field goals, 11 rebounds and five blocked shots.  Sophomore guard Mykaela Brandt helped out with seven points for the Lions (9-0, 5-0 MVC).

Mackenzie Blaha and Shelby Crist each had five points to lead Prairie (2-5, 1-4).

“We’re trying to get better every game so we need to learn that we have to play at our level every night and we didn’t always do that tonight,” Linn-Mar Coach Mike Brandt said.  “We took advantage of what they were letting us do, but we have to be ready to take our shots.”

Prairie Coach Steve Doser praised his team’s efforts against the defending state champion Lions.

“Our kids work hard and that makes them a great team to coach, but tonight was a learning experience for us,” Doser said.

Linn-Mar’s next game is Tuesday at home against No. 6 Iowa City West, which handed No. 7 Xavier its first loss Friday night.  Prairie hosts Pleasant Valley on Tuesday.

PRAIRIE  (23): Carver 1 0-0 2, A.Weiland 0 0-0 0, K.Weiland 1 0-0 2, Blaha 2 0-0 5, Dellamuth 1 0-0 3, Crist 2 1-2 5, McCrary 1 0-0 2, Yanecek 1 0-0 2, Hutchins 0 0-0 0, Carney 0 2-2 2. Totals 9 3-4 23.

LINN-MAR (52): Brandt 2 3-3 7, Thrune 1 0-0 2, Karr 2 1-4 5, Eells 1 0-0 3, Stokes 14 1-2 29, Major 0 0-0 0, Martins 2 0-0 4, Strauel 1 0-1 2, Cheatham 0 0-0 0, Seckman 0 0-0 0, Koelker 0 0-0 0, Sherwood 0 0-0 0.  Totals 23 5-10 52.

Halftime – Linn-Mar 33 Prairie 9.  3-point goals – Prairie 2 (Blaha, Dellamuth), Linn-Mar 1 (Eells).  Fouled out — Dellamuth.