Kennedy Girls Basketball

Kennedy girls knock off another ranked foe

Kennedy continued its giant killing prowess Friday night.

The No. 14 Cougars scored their third straight shocker, dumping No. 6 Iowa City High, 70-66, in a Mississippi Valley Conference girls basketball game at Kennedy.

Kennedy (9-6, 7-5) just broke into the Class 4A rankings, propelled by recent wins over ranked teams Ames and Cedar Rapids Prairie.

Kennedy (9-6, 7-5) boasted five players in double figures against City High (13-5, 8-5).

“I’m very pleased with our chemistry and how we are playing together, and I hope we can build some confidence through our recent encounters that have gone our way,” said Kennedy Coach Dennis Roloff.

Free throw shooting once again was a high point for Kennedy — after hitting 14 consecutive charity tosses against Prairie earlier this week, the Cougars canned their first 10 free throws and finished the game 25 for 31 at the line.  Courtney Strait drained 10 of 11 freebies and finished with 22 points.

Kaylese Johnson had 13 points — five on free throws -- and Madison Meier had 11 points. Stephanie Botkin and Paige Hendrickson had 10 apiece.

Though City High was down by 18 points at the half, the Little Hawks didn’t fold.  Coach McTaggart was hoping to have great gains from his inside game and City High did have a height advantage, but some turnovers around the perimeter and tough shooting that was not typical of City High caused them to fall behind early.  Free throws, at times, kept City High in the game, led by Mickey Hansche who canned all nine attempts and finished with a game high scoring total of 25.

Hansche, one of the state’s best long range shooters, had seven goals and even drained a half-court shot at the buzzer. Sierra Chambers finished with 12 points and quick, nifty guard Kiera Washpun accounted for 13 points.

Kennedy hosts Decorah Saturday night at 6:30.

KENNEDY (70):  Madison Meier  2  6-6  11;  Courtney Strait  5  10-11  22;  Kaylese Johnson  4  5-7  13;  Jordan Holmes  1  0-2  2; Paige Hendrickson  5  0-0  10; Stephanie Botkin  3  4-5  10; Capria Davis  1  0-0  2; Sarah Zinser  0  0-0  0.   Totals  21  25-31  70.

IOWA CITY  HIGH (66):  Abby Schroder  1  0-0  3;  Kiera Washpun  3  6-7  13;   Jordan Sullivan  1  0-0  2; Erin Danielsen  0  0-0  0; Mickey Hansche  7  9-9  25; Abbey Vitosh  0  0-0  0; Harper Beasley  2  0-0  4; Sierra Chambers  6  0-2  12; Haley Lorenzen  3  0-2  6; Aliyah Gustafson  0  1-2  1.  Totals   23  16-22  66.

Halftime - Kennedy  39, City High  21. Fouls -   Kennedy  23, City High 18. Fouled out - Botkin, Lorenzen.  3-point goals - Kennedy 3 (Strait 2, Meier), City High 4 (Hansche 2, Washpun, Schroder).

Giant-killing Cougars strike down Prairie

If they keep this up, they’ll have to stop calling them upsets.

For the third time this month, unranked Kennedy toppled a ranked opponent, beating No. 8 Prairie, 58-52, Tuesday night on their home court.

The Cougars upset No. 6 Ames on Saturday night and stunned then-No. 9 Washington on January 6. They have won four straight and five of seven contests in January to raise their record to 8-6 overall, 6-5 in the Mississippi Valley Conference, setting up the possibility of an interesting finish in the Mississippi Division race.

It was only a matter of time before his young team would snare some big wins, said Kennedy Coach Dennis Roloff, whose Cougars were 3-4 at the end of December after letting some close contests slip away.

“We’re getting experience, and the kids are maturing and they’re getting much better and they’re believing in themselves. Their confidence is there. I’ve told them all along that we were going to be able to do that, and they’re believing it.”

Prairie (11-4, 8-3) had won eight in a row and was up by three after three quarters, but the Cougars nailed a perfect 14 of 14 from the free throw line in the final period, led by Cool Hand Courtney Strait with six, to turn back the Hawks.

Standing on the line was just where she wanted to be in the fourth quarter, said Strait, who led all scorers with 20 points and 10 rebounds.

“This year when I’m shooting free throws I just don’t even think about anything other than the basket. I have the most experience in the high-pressure games and I know I’m going to be confident at the line, so it’s easier for me to have the ball than people who are going to panic.”

Her teammates Madi Meier, Stephanie Botkin and Jordan Holmes also hit their free throws down the stretch.

“Courtney is one of the best in the state in shooting free throws,” said Roloff. “She’s got the school record of 23 in a row and she’s shooting 80-some percent, but the other kids followed through tonight, too."

Prairie set a torrid pace with its fast break offense to start the game and was up 13-12 at the end of the first period. In the second, the Cougars were able to break the Hawks’ press, as Strait scored four field goals and Meier and Paige Hendrickson hit the Cougars’ only 3-pointers of the evening to push their team to a 28-18 halftime lead.

A determined Prairie came back recharged after the break, outscoring Kennedy 19-6 to take a 37-34 lead after three periods.

But Kennedy stayed poised and scored three quick baskets to start the fourth, then clung to a slim lead.

With a minute left in the game, Prairie’s Alisa Weiland hit a 3-pointer and, after Kennedy was called for a travel. Cyerra Hutchins scored a free throw to pull the Hawks to within two, 54-52. But the Cougars sealed the victory with four final bullets from the charity stripe.

“The girls turned it around in the fourth,” said Roloff. “We said, ‘Hey, pick it up,’ and they did. They came out and they played hard, and whenever you catch a couple of baskets, it’s boom boom, and they caught the fire. We’ve been fading in the fourth quarter in a lot of our games and that’s where we’re maturing. We’re starting to play the fourth quarter very well.”

Doser, whose own young squad has experienced a remarkable turnaround from last year, said his team fought to the finish but couldn’t find its rhythm in the final period.

“We battled back from an 8-0 deficit and then got up three going into the fourth. I thought that would be a good momentum thing, but they came out and hit some shots and we had a couple of turnovers that made it a 7-0 run for them and we just didn’t recover.

"Kennedy knocked down some big shots and they knocked down free throws at the end. That’s what it takes to win these tight games and Kennedy did it, so the credit goes to them.”

Strait, the state’s top 4A scorer with a game average of 21.2, has scored the lion’s share of her team’s points in several contests, but says the team’s more balanced offense in the past month is helping to put them back in the win column.

“Experience-wise, we’ve just turned the corner. Right now we’re not focused at all about who’s scoring the points. It’s just getting the job done. Earlier in the season some of our younger kids would worry too much about mistakes and that would psyche them out in a game. We’re just getting so confident in each other that we can say, ‘Just forget it and move on,’ and that’s going to give them confidence to go right back and make a basket.”

Hendrickson added 13 points and Botkin 12 for the Cougars. The Hawks were led by Weiland and freshman bench player Emilie Rotter with 13 points each.

The Cougars will take aim at another ranked team when they play No. 10 Iowa City High  Friday night at home. The Hawks play at Linn-Mar on Friday.

PRAIRIE (52): Kaitlyn Yanacek 0 1-2 1, Cyerra Hutchins 4 1-2 9, Alisa Weiland 5 2-2 13, Courteney McCrary 4 2-2 11, Madison Dellamuth 1 1-2 4, Mackenzie Serbousek 0 1-2 1, Emilie Rotter 6 1-2 13. Totals 20 9-14 52.

KENNEDY (58): Madi Meier 3 2-2 9, Courtney Strait 7 6-6 20, Kaylese Johnson 0 0-0 0,  Stephanie Botkin 4 4-4 12, Paige Hendrickson 6 0-0 13, Mariah Simmons 1 0-0 2, Jordan Holmes 0 2-2 2, Sarah Zinser 0 0-0 0, Capria Davis 0 0-0 0,  Aryn Nelson 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 14-14 58.

Halftime – Kennedy 28, Prairie 18. 3-point goals – Prairie 3 (Weiland, McCrary, Dellamuth), Kennedy 2 (Meier, Hendrickson). Fouled out – none.

Kennedy girls upset No. 6 Ames

AMES - Courtney Strait scored 15 points and Paige Hendrickson added 13 to lead Kennedy to a 61-53 upset of No. 6 Ames in girls basketball Saturday.

Kennedy (7-6) connected on seven 3-pointers with Hendrickson hitting three. The Cougars also were 18 of 25 from the free throw line. Strait was 10 of 12.

Shaya Kellogg had 13 points to lead Ames (14-3).

KENNEDY (61): Madi Meier 2 2-2 8, Courtney Strait 2 10-12 15, Mariah Simmons 2 1-2 5, Kaylese Johnson 1 3-4 5, Jordan Holmes 1 1-4 4, Paige Hendrickson 5 0-0 13, Stephanie Botkin 3 1-1 7, Capria Davis 1 0-0 2, Sarah Zinser 1 0-0 2. Totals 18 18-25 61.

AMES (53): Laura Freidrich 0 0-0 0, Kayla Sankey 1 2-2 4, Jenna Power 2 2-2 8, Molly Sanders 2 0-0 5, Ashley Ray 0 3-4 3, Kiana Peterson 0 0-0 0, Bailee Jackson 1 1-2 4, Shaya Kellogg 5 3-4 13, Janae VerHeist 1 0-0 2, Cheyenne Pritchard 4 2-4 11, Jamie Steyer 1 0-0 3. Totals 17 13-20 53.

Halftime - Kennedy 28, Ames 18. 3-point goals - Kennedy 7 (Hendrickson 3, Meier 2, Strait, Holmes), Ames 6 (Power 2, Sanders, Jackson, Pritchard, Steyer).

Kennedy girls blitz J-Hawks with 13 triples

Larry Niemeyer has coached more 1,000 basketball games during his Hall of Fame career and he knows an outstanding player when he sees one.

Kennedy senior Courtney Strait fits the bill, and Niemeyer was determined to make somebody else on the Kennedy team beat the Jefferson J-Hawks Friday night.

They did.

Strait scored only four points in the first half but it hardly mattered as the Cougars walloped the J-Hawks, 81-39, on Hall of Fame night in the Kennedy gym.

"She's capable of hitting 35 or 40 points in a game," Niemeyer said. "We wanted to shut her down."

That part of the strategy worked in the first half, but nothing else went right for the J-Hawks. Kennedy jumped to a 13-0 advantage and held a commanding 37-14 lead at intermission, even with Strait held under wraps in the scoring column.

The Cougars (6-6, 5-5) tossed in a whopping thirteen 3-pointers, which may or may not be a school record. "That's close," said Kennedy Coach Dennis Roloff, who wasn't sure.

Strait leads Class 4A in scoring at 22.3 points and is one of the top players in the state. Niemeyer used a special zone defense with a chaser in the first half, with Kaitlin Davidson following Strait everywhere she went.

That gave all the other Cougars the green light.

"We told our kids before the game: It's time for the rest of the team to pick it up," Roloff said, "because we know there's going to be nights when Courtney doesn't score a lot of points."

Jefferson switched to a regular zone defense in the second half, but by then the Cougars were cruising. Strait hit three 3-pointers in the second half and finished with a game-high 15 points.

Nine Cougars hit 3-pointers. Madison Meier and Mariah Simmons made a pair while Kaylese Johnson, Taylor Wagner, Capria Davis, Aryn Nelson, Grace Reinhart and Taylor Sohn hit one apiece.

Kennedy scored 39 points on 3-pointers, matching Jefferson's point total for the game.

"That's the best we've shot all year," Roloff remarked. "Larry said, 'Well, they were wide open.' And I said we've had wide-open shots all year and we missed them.

"We put them in tonight. I felt very comfortable with the rest of the team. It was a team effort."

Simmons scored 13 points for the Cougars and Meier finished with 12 markers. Roloff used 15 players and 12 of them scored.

Kennedy grabbed a 30-point lead at 45-15 with five minutes left in the third quarter, then stretched the margin to 39 points at 58-19 with three minutes to go in the stanza.

Kennedy grabbed a 41-point lead at 72-31 with five minutes left in the game, at which point Roloff removed all his starters.

Maddie Koolbeck led the J-Hawks (5-8, 2-8) with 13 points. Rachel Broghammer scored 12.

"Kennedy played very, very well tonight and we were never in the game," Niemeyer said.

JEFFERSON (39): Davidson 3 2-2 8, Blietz 1 0-0 2, Jacobson 1 0-2 2, Broghammer 4 4-10 12, Koolbeck 5 3-4 13, Stromert 1 0-4 2, Brathwaite 0 0-2 0, Church-Green 0 0-0 0, Jonas 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 9-24 39.

KENNEDY (81): Meier 5 0-2 12, Strait 4 4-4 15, Johnson 2 2-2 7, Hendrickson 3 0-0 6, Botkin 3 3-5 9, Simmons 5 1-2 13, Holmes 0 0-0 0, Zinser 1 0-0 2, Wagner 2 0-0 5, Davis 1 0-0 3, Nelson 1 0-0 3, Reinhart 1 0-0 3, Schwartzhoff 0 0-0 0, Sohn 1 0-0 3, Yokota 0 0-0 0. Totals 29 10-15 81.

Halftime - Kennedy 37, Jefferson 14. 3-point goals - Jefferson none, Kennedy 13 (Strait 3, Meier 2, Simmons 2, Johnson 1, Wagner 1, Davis 1, Nelson 1, Reinhart 1, Sohn 1).