WATERLOO - Some shaky foul shooting briefly sent the Waterloo East boys' off course Tuesday. But, eventually, Jaron Nash steered his club toward victory lane.

Nash slashed through Cedar Rapids Prairie's defense early and often, spurring a 68-54 East triumph.

At 6-foot-7 and with guard skills, Nash is a nightmare matchup for opponents. And the visiting Hawks simply had no answer for the Trojan star Tuesday, as Nash rang up a game-high 21 points to go along with four blocked shots.

"Coach was telling me to go to the hole, because I was bigger," said the East senior, who shot 9-for-12 from the floor before fouling out late. "That's what I tried to do: get my points inside, and be patient."

East (5-2, 3-1) won its third straight contest, though the host's 8-for-23 (34.8 percent) shooting from the charity stripe allowed Prairie to hang around.

"I wasn't very pleased with our effort," said Trojan coach Steve McGraw. "Between the foul shooting and the defense, I thought we were poor.

"You can't miss free throws like we missed free throws," McGraw added. "It irritates me when we play with this type of effort."

The Trojans seized a 35-22 halftime lead, thanks to a 12-0, second-quarter run. That scoring spree was highlighted when East's leading point-producer, Nash (16.3 points per game), drove the left baseline and hammered home a one-hand jam.

In the first half, East shot 54 percent and was also aided by 12 Prairie turnovers.

"They were just a little more aggressive in the first half," said Prairie coach Paul Schenkelberg of the Trojans. "They outhustled us - that, and obviously their athleticism was a little better."

Prairie, now 2-4 overall and 0-3 in Mississippi Valley Conference action, trailed by double-digits much of the second half, despite the penetration of Hawks guard Scott Schebler, who finished with 19 points.

East used some solid, high-low offfensive exchanges to dissect the visitors' zone defense. As a result, 6-foot-3 bruiser Quinton Van Arsdale dropped in 12 points on efficient, 5-for-7 shooting.