Kennedy Girls Basketball

Lions, Cougars climb in rankings

The Linn-Mar Lions and Kennedy Cougars made big jumps in the IGHSAU girls basketball rankings Friday.

The Lions climbed four spots to No. 6 in Class 5A and the Cougars jumped five spots to No. 7.

The Marion Indians fell two places to No. 6 in Class 4A. The Xavier Saints dropped out of the Class 4A rankings.

CLASS 5A
1. Waukee, 2. Johnston, 3. Ankeny Centennial, 4. Dowling Catholic, 5. Indianola, 6. Linn-Mar, 7. Kennedy, 8. Southeast Polk, 9. Iowa City High, 10. West Des Moines Valley, 11. Cedar Falls, 12. Davenport North, 13. Pleasant Valley, 14. Sioux City West, 15. Iowa City West.

CLASS 4A
1. Ballard, 2. Mason City, 3. Harlan, 4. Western Dubuque, 5. Fairfield, 6. Marion, 7. Keokuk, 8. Dallas Center-Grimes, 9. Lewis Central, 10. Bishop Heelan, 11. Waverly-Shell Rock, 12. North Scott, 13. Carlisle, 14. Pella, 15. Spencer.

No. 7 Kennedy girls bop Xavier

The seventh-ranked Kennedy girls basketball team glided past Xavier, 47-25, Friday at Kennedy after leading 25-7 at halftime.

Lela Sellers had 18 points for the Cougars (5-1) and Olivia Hellweg added eight points.

Meghan Joens had seven points for the Saints (2-4).

XAVIER (25): Bastian 0 0-0 0, Noonan 0 2-4 2, Joens 3 1-2 7, Ivester 2 0-0 4, Dickes 1 1-1 3, Stanek 1 0-0 3, Brown 2 0-0 4, Steffen 1 0-0 2, Callahan 0 0-0 0, Kadlec 0 0-0 0, Stovie 0 0-0 0, Helms 0 0-0 0, Cooling 0 0-0 0, Hoffman 0 0-0 0. Totals 10 4-7 25.

KENNEDY (47): Langhurst 1 1-2 3, Hamilton 1 1-2 4, Hayden 2 0-0 6, Sellers 8 1-1 18, Steele 1 0-0 3, Timmerman 0 0-0 0, Vaske 0 0-0 0, Hellweg 3 2-2 8, Dolphin 2 1-1 5, Runels 0 0-0 0, Meier 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 6-8 47.

Halftime – Kennedy 25, Xavier 7. 3-point goals – Xavier 1 (Stanek), Kennedy 5 (Hayden 2, Hamilton, Sellers, Steele).

Sellers, Hayden spark No. 12 Cougars

WATERLOO – The 12th-ranked Kennedy girls basketball team crushed Waterloo East, 77-40, Tuesday in Waterloo.

Lela Sellers scored 20 points for the Cougars, Sydney Hayden had 18 points on six 3-point goals, and Hailey Dolphin and Linden Runels each added 12 points.

Kerris Roberts had 18 points for the Trojans (1-4).

Kennedy improved to 4-1.

KENNEDY (77): Choate 0 0-0 0, Langhurst 0 2-2 2, Hamilton 3 1-2 8, Hayden 6 0-0 18, Sellers 7 6-8 20, Steele 0 0-0 0, Timmerman 0 0-0 0, Vaske 2 1-3 5, Hellweg 0 0-0 0, Dolphin 4 2-2 12, Runels 6 0-0 12, Meier 0 0-0 0, Gallagher 0 0-0 0 Totals 28 12-17 77.

WATERLOO EAST (40): Sisk 2 2-2 6, Clark 4 0-0 9, Roberts 6 4-7 18, Love 2 0-0 6, Sims 0 0-0 0, Campbell 0 0-0 0, Dickens 0 1-2 1, Shannon 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 7-11 40.

Halftime – Kennedy 51, Waterloo East 22. 3-point goals – Kennedy 9 (Hayden 6, Dolphin 2, Hamilton), Waterloo East 5 (Roberts 2, Love 2, Clark).

Sellers wins Metro Spotlight Award

Lela Sellers of Cedar Rapids Kennedy is the winner of the Metro Spotlight Award for high school girls this week, the Metro Sports Report announced Sunday.

Sellers, a 5-foot-11 senior, is one of the top basketball players in the state and has committed to play college ball at Liberty University, which is an NCAA Division I school.

Sellers had a big weekend for the Cougars in two victories over ranked teams. It began Friday night when she poured in 30 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in a 65-61 victory at fifth-ranked Iowa City High.

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