Kennedy Boys Basketball

No. 2 Kennedy boys top Saints

Matt Berst popped in five 3-pointers and scored 17 points Tuesday night as the Kennedy Cougars downed the Xavier Saints, 62-51, in a Mississippi Valley Conference game at the Kennedy gym.

The Cougars, who are ranked No. 2 in Class 4A, raised their perfect record to 4-0. The Saints, who are ranked No. 9 in Class 3A, fell to 2-4 for the campaign.

Xavier point guard Matt Mims, who sprained his ankle last Friday against Jefferson, did not play for the Saints.

Drake Brewster and Jackson Foley contributed 11 points apiece for Kennedy.

Jackson Joens paced Xavier with 13 points. Bryce Schulte pitched in with 10 points. Max Techau, who began his prep career at Kennedy, finished with eight points and nine rebounds for the Saints.

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Bohannon MVC's best in Valley Division

Linn-Mar senior Jordan Bohannon was named the Valley Division Athlete of the Year as a part of the Mississippi Valley Conference's All-Division Selections released Thursday.

Bohannon, who closed his career with a 44-point effort in a 76-74 overtime loss to Cedar Falls in the Class 4A substate final on Tuesday, was one of three unanimous selections to the first team along with Dubuque Wahlert's Cordell Pemsl and Iowa City West's Connor McCaffery.

West Coach Steve Bergman and his staff received the division's Coach of the Year honor.

Class 3A state qualifier Xavier had two players, Mitchell Burger and Max Techau, named to the Mississippi Division first team. Also on the first team were Prairie's Max Smith-Drahos and Washington's Leveechie Williams.

Waterloo East's Isaiah Wade was the division's athlete of the year while Iowa City High's Don Showalter and his staff received Coach of the Year honors.

VALLEY DIVISION
FIRST TEAM

* Jordan Bohannon, Linn-Mar, *Cordell Pemsl, Dubuque Wahlert, *Connor McCaffery, Iowa City west, Tra'Von Fagan, Cedar Falls, A.J. Green, Cedar Falls, Wali Parks, Iowa City West, Devontae Lane, Iowa City West.

* - Unanimous selection

SECOND TEAM

Dennis McKinney, Jefferson, Drake Brewster, Kennedy, David Wedewer, Dubuque Wahlert, Beau Klostermann, Linn-Mar, Carter Stevens, Dubuque Senior, Riley Till, Dubuque Wahlert, Jared Printy, Linn-Mar.

HONORABLE MENTION
(Metro Only)

Jefferson: Adam Van Oort, Valentino Green.
Kennedy: Derrick Diggins, Michael Bisenius
Linn-Mar: Jordan Brandt, Riley Murphy

Athlete of the Year: Jordan Bohannon, Linn-Mar
Coach of the Year: Steve Bergman and staff, Iowa City West

MISSISSIPPI DIVISION
FIRST TEAM

Max Smith-Drahos, Prairie, Laveechie Williams, Washington, Mitchell Burger, Xavier, Max Techau, Xavier, Micah Martin, Iowa City High, Isaiah Wade, Waterloo East, Amel Kuljuhovic, Waterloo West.

SECOND TEAM

Jalen Rima, Prairie, Naeem Smith, Iowa City High, Keion Wills, Washington, Hunter Strait, Washington, Matt Mims, Xavier, Connor Duax, Dubuque Hempstead, Gabe Pepin, Waterloo West.

HONORABLE MENTION
(Metro Only)

Prairie: Cal Clark, Jake Eilers
Washington: Ian Thomas, Dallas Hobbs
Xavier: Ryan Stulken, Jackson Joens

Athlete of the Year: Isaiah Wade, Waterloo East
Coach of the Year: Don Showalter and staff, Iowa City High

Cougars fall short at Cedar Falls

CEDAR FALLS - The fire has been burning inside the Cedar Falls boys basketball camp and with every win, the flames seem to reach higher.

Friday night it took a little while for the sparks to flare up, but once the Tigers got hot, they burned visiting Cedar Rapids Kennedy, 70-53, in Class 4A substate semifinal action.

Kennedy (11-12) started the night strong on a pair of buckets from Drake Brewster and Matt Berst, giving them a 5-2 lead.

Cedar Falls (18-4) quickly caught fire with an 8-0 run, then ran the floor fast and furious over the next 12 minutes to take a 29-18 lead into the locker room at the half.

"I thought overall we came out more ready to play than the first time we met," Cedar Falls coach Ryan Schultz said, referring to his team's 73-66 win over Kennedy in late January. "We both came out and traded a few punches early on, and our guys were able to withstand that and stay calm.

"Sometimes we come out a little too psyched up and it is tough to settle them down at first. Tonight I think the guys came out with the right type of energy."

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Diggins leads Cougars to OT victory

WATERLOO - Derrick Diggins came off the bench to score a game-high 21 points to lead Kennedy to a 56-51 overtime win over Waterloo West in a 4A substate contest at Waterloo East High School.

Drake Brewster chipped in with 11 while Matt Berst and Michael Bisenius added 10 apiece for the Cougars (11-11). Kennedy advances to the substate semifinal at 7 p.m. Friday on the road against Cedar Falls.

West, which closes at 6-16, was led by Gabe Pepin's 17 points.

KENNEDY (56): Brewster 1 9-10 11, Girling 0 0-0 0, Berst 3 2-4 10, Duehr 0 0-0 0, Diggins 5 7-8 21, Bisenius 3 1-3 10, Beyer 2 0-0 4, Wall 1 0-0 2. Totals 15 19-26 59.

WATERLOO WEST (51): Lanier 2 0-0 4, Spates 2 2-3 7, Caddell 0 2-2 2, Harris-Anderson 2 3-4 7, Kuljuhovic 5 1-1 11, Pepin 5 4-4 17, Nickelson 1 0-0 3, T. Beaman 0 0-0 0, T. Burt 0 0-0 0, K. Burt 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 12-14 51

Halftime: Waterloo West 30, Kennedy 27. 3-point goals: Kennedy 7 (Berst 1, Bisenius 2, Diggins 4). Waterloo West 5 (Spates 1, Pepin 3, Nickelson 1). Total fouls: West 21, Kennedy 16. Fouled out: Caddell, Pepin.