Tigers take close one from Prairie at home

Cedar Falls was matching up against a conference rival in their 12th game of the season against a well-rounded Cedar Rapids Prairie team at Cedar Falls High School on Jan. 28. Both teams came into the game with only two losses.

Cedar Falls was on a five game winning streak with their last loss against the Prairie Hawks coming on Jan. 4. Prairie had won six of their last seven with their only loss in the time frame to top 10-ranked Iowa City West. 

The game started with lots of back and forth action but with only 47 seconds left, the Tigers were down eight. The Tigers kept fighting with some big plays by leading scorer senior Trey Campbell and freshman Anthony Galvin. 

The game was then tied at 48 to 48 with the Prairie Hawks having the basketball with 10 seconds left on the clock. Prairie missed its shot, but senior guard Aaron Brost was fouled with half a second left on the clock. 

With the Tigers being in the double bonus, Brost got two chances at the free throw line. He hit one of two putting the Tigers up by one point, sealing the victory barring a last second shot from Cedar Rapids Prairie. When asked about the last moment of the game Brost said, “I was pretty excited that they called the foul, and at that point I knew we were gonna win the game. It was pretty nerve racking once I got up to the line. I bricked the first one and that put a lot of pressure on me. Then I made the second one, and we won the game.”

Prairie’s half court heave was no good, leaving Cedar Falls with a one point victory and an unlikely comeback. With another win the next day against Iowa City Liberty, the Tigers advanced to 11-2 on the season, which puts the Tigers with a one game lead in the Mississippi Division and tied with Cedar Rapids Kennedy in the conference. 

The Tigers have a big matchup against Kennedy for the last game of the season with Cedar Falls trying to continue their hot streak of victories.