Kennedy High School - Cedar Rapids, Iowa

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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4 Metro boys make all-MVC bowling

Four Metro boys have earned first-team honors from the Mississippi Valley Conference on the all-star bowling team.

Jefferson senior Hunter Sturtz, Kennedy senior James Jambois and Linn-Mar junior Alex Diercks were unanimous first-team picks in the Valley Division.

Prairie senior Matt Galloro was a first-team pick in the Mississippi Division.

MISSISSIPPI DIVISION

Athlete of the Year – Justin Lanser, jr., Dubuque Hempstead.

Coach of the Year – Roger Poling, Dubuque Hempstead.

First Team

Justin Lanser*, jr., Dubuque Hempstead; Jordan Mattix*, sr., Waterloo West; Noah Cheever, jr., Dubuque Hempstead; Cody Scheffert, sr., Dubuque Hempstead; Chance Brimeyer, sr., Dubuque Hempstead; Matt Galloro, sr., Prairie.

Second Team

Metro Only

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Milota, Blood honored on MVC bowling

Kennedy junior Jamie Milota has been named the Athlete of the Year on the Valley Division all-star girls bowling team, the Mississippi Valley Conference announced Thursday.

Rylee Blood, a senior at Prairie and the Class 3A state champion, shared the honor with senior Ashley Care of Waterloo East in the Mississippi Division.

Prairie’s Don Willfong was named Coach of the Year in the Mississippi Division. Linn-Mar’s Jeremy Moser was named Coach of the Year in the Valley Division.

Blood and freshman Prairie teammate Ashley Sundstrom were unanimous first-team picks in the Mississippi Division. Prairie senior Sabrina Keiper and Washington senior Shania Christensen also made the first team.

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Kennedy girls KO'd by Davenport North

DAVENPORT – The 11th-ranked Kennedy girls basketball team let a fourth-quarter lead evaporate and ended their season with a 68-64 loss to No. 8 Davenport North in a Class 5A regional final Tuesday at North.

The Cougars entered the fourth quarter with a 53-46 lead, but the Wildcats went on a 22-11 run down the stretch for the win.

Sydney Hayden scored 22 points for Kennedy (18-5). Lela Sellers scored 19 points. Ashley Hamilton added 11 points and eight rebounds.

Jacionna Stowers scoerd 28 points for Davenport North (21-3). Paige Bradford had 14 points and 14 rebounds. Jinaya Houston added 12 points and 10 rebounds.

KENNEDY (64): Langhurst 2 0-2 4, Hayden 8 2-2 22, Sellers 5 8-12 19, Dolphin 2 0-2 4, Runels 0 2-2 2, Hamilton 4 0-0 11, Hellweg 0 0-0 0, Meier 1 0-0 2, Steele 0 0-0 0, Vaske 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 12-20 64.

DAVENPORT NORTH (68): Stowers 12 0-1 28, Houston 4 3-4 12, O'Brien 2 3-4 8, Dillie 1 1-6 3, Bradford 5 4-5 14, Hicks 0 0-0 0, Wardlow 0 0-0 0, Ranum 1 1-2 3. Totals 25 12-22 68.

Halftime – Kennedy 32, Davenport North 20. 3-point goals – Kennedy 8 (Hayden 4, Hamilton 3, Sellers), North 6 (Stowers 4, Houston, O'Brien).

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.

Blood, Sturtz top all-Metro bowling

Rylee Blood of Prairie and Hunter Sturtz of Jefferson have been honored as the Athletes of the Year on the all-Metro bowling teams, as selected by the Metro coaches.

Prairie girls claimed three of seven spots on the all-Metro first team with Blood, Ashley Sundstrom and Sabrina Keiper. Shania Christensen of Washington, Bre Smith of Marion, Mekena Diercks of Linn-Mar and Jamie Milota of Kennedy also made the first team.

Alex Diercks of Linn-Mar, James Jambois of Kennedy, Matt Galloro of Prairie, Jarrett Steward of Marion, Jacob Fulton of Xavier and Charlie Hart of Xavier joined Sturtz on the all-Metro first team for boys.

Don Willfong of Prairie was named the girls Coach of the Year and Mat Fowler of Jefferson was named the boys Coach of the Year.

Second Team Girls

Kaitlyn Earley (Prairie), Alexis Tschantz (Linn-Mar), Jade Klinefelter (Prairie), Alexis Smith (Marion), Megan Kitzmiller (Jefferson), Tanya Zaugg (Xavier).

Second Team Boys

Chase Donner (Jefferson), Nathan Williams (Linn-Mar), Ryan Wyant (Linn-Mar), Bert Goodwin (Kennedy), Shawn Wille (Prairie), Dakota Timmerman (Marion).

Honorable Mention Girls

Jefferson - Allie Schirmer, Hailey Kimble
Kennedy - Alyssa Wiedemeier, Abbie Haller
Linn-Mar - Abbie Smith, Brittni Krause
Marion - Aleann Romo, Alicia Steepleton
Prairie - Mikayla Hite, Ashley Grady
Washington - Ella Wake, Lucy Forster
Xavier - Cheyanne Crane, Ella Schrader

Honorable Mention Boys

Jefferson - Riley Walton, John Gardner
Kennedy - Max Hiatt, Nick Green
Linn-Mar - Jacob Wheaton, Alex Barnett
Marion - Dylan Nash, Nate Meister
Prairie - Lucas Galloro, Brendan Poock
Washington - Donovan Trimble, John Taylor
Xavier - Jackson Schuster, Michael Buenzow

Kennedy girls roll past Muscatine

Lela Sellers scored 15 points as the 11th-ranked Kennedy girls basketball team made quick work of Muscatine with a 47-25 win in a Class 5A regional semifinal Saturday at Kennedy.

The Cougars (18-4) advanced to play No. 8 Davenport North (20-3) in a regional final at 7 p.m. Tuesday at North.

Kennedy led 10-2 after the first quarter and never looked back. Linden Runels added 11 points for the Cougars.

Muscatine finished 9-14.

MUSCATINE (25): Rusch 0 1-2 1, Miller 0 0-0 0, Butler 0 0-0 0, Kerr 1 0-0 2, Rodgers 1 5-8 7, Wagg 0 0-0 0, White 0 0-0 0, Hepker 2 0-0 4, Torres 2 1-1 6, Oppel 1 3-6 5. Totals 7 10-17 25.

KENNEDY (47): Choate 0 1-2 1, Langhurst 2 1-2 6, Hamilton 1 2-2 5, Hayden 2 0-0 6, Sellers 7 1-1 15, Steele 0 0-2 0, Timmerman 0 0-0 0, Vaske 0 0-0 0, Hellweg 1 0-0 2, Dolphin 0 1-2 1, Runels 4 0-0 11, Meier 0 0-0 0, Gallagher 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 6-11 47.

Halftime – Kennedy 25, Muscatine 10. 3-point goals – Muscatine 1 (Torres), Kennedy 7 (Runels 3, Hayden 2, Lanhurst, Hamilton).

Surprising Cougars steal the show

DES MOINES - The Cedar Rapids Kennedy wrestling team surprised a lot of people at the Class 3A state wrestling tournament in Des Moines this week.

They even surprised themselves.

The Cougars surged into a tie for fourth place in the team standings Saturday following the consolation finals at Wells Fargo Arena with just a five-man team.

The Cougars have fared better than all the other Metro teams in the tournament and they've fared better than all the other Mississippi Valley Conference clubs in the tournament.

Nobody saw it coming.

"We turned a lot of heads today," said Nolan Hromidko, who placed third at 126 pounds. "I was surprised myself, actually, when I looked at the standings today, but that's what hard work and determination gets you."

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4 Metro grapplers eye state titles

DES MOINES - The emotions will be churning for four Metro wrestlers Saturday night when they join the Parade of Champions at Wells Fargo Arena prior to the final round of the Class 3A state tournament in Des Moines.

But first, they needed to calm their nerves and try to get a good night's sleep Friday after winning in the semifinals.

"Some nights I don't sleep at all and some other nights I'll sleep like a baby," said Taylor Mehmen of Prairie, who will be gunning for the 195-pound crown. "I guess we'll see when I get back to the hotel."

Clint Lembeck of Xavier (138), Logan Rodriguez of Kennedy (152) and Shea Hartzler of Linn-Mar (160) also will be battling for state crowns Saturday night.

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