No. 1 Linn-Mar used a balance attack and a strong inside presence Friday night (Dec. 17) to defeat Prairie, 66-36, in a Mississippi Valley Conference boys basketball game at Linn-Mar.

Josh Montague led all scorers with 15 points, Matt Bohannon and Ian McBrayer each scored 14, and Marcus Paige added 10 as the Lions (5-0, 3-0 MVC) took advantage of their size to control the paint.  Linn-Mar took control immediately, building a 32-9 lead by the end of the first quarter.

“Our big guys really played well tonight.  They were tough inside and the got out and ran well too,” Linn-Mar Coach Chris Robertson said.  “We did a nice job with the ball when we settled into our half court offense.”

Matt Jantzen and Brandon Lafferty led the Hawks (1-6, 0-3) with eight points apiece.

“Our players are learning, they competed and played with intensity.  We need to be more patient and efficient on offense, but that will come with confidence,” Prairie Coach James Moses said.

Linn-Mar has a quick turn-around. The Lions play Mount Pleasant on Saturday night (Dec. 18) at the U.S. Cellular Center.  Prairie is off until after the winter break.

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PRAIRIE  (36): Frazier 2 1-2 5, Kehoe 1 1-2 3, Bradford 1 0-0 2, Jantzen 2 3-3 8, MacDougall 2 0-0 4, Boots 1 0-0 3, Lafferty 3 2-2 8, Goodale 0 0-0 0, Eilers 0 0-0 0, Rasmussen 0 0-0 0, Dellamuth 0 0-0 0, Aune 0 1-2 1, Hilgenkamp 1 0-0 2. Totals 13 8-11 36.

LINN-MAR (66): Thul 2 0-0 4, Paige 5 0-0 10, Bohannon 5 2-3 14, McBrayer 7 0-0 14, Montague 4 7-7 15, Krusie 1 1-2 3, Gogg 1 0-2 2, Lassen 1 0-0 2, Henry 1 0-0 2, Lancial 0 0-0 0, Soyer 0 0-0 0, Gentzler 0 0-0 0, Malone 0 0-0 0, Hutchins 0 0-0 0.Totals 27 10-14 66.

Halftime – Linn-Mar 48 Prairie 20.  3-point goals – Prairie 2 (Boots 1, Jantzen 1), Linn-Mar 2 (Bohannon 2).  Fouled out — None