For Kennedy, a win worth shouting about

CEDAR RAPIDS - First, the Kennedy Cougars wore down Cedar Falls. Then, in the comfort of the locker room, they wore out their vocal cords.

Class 5A 10th-ranked Kennedy put its superior depth to use, and it paid off in the fourth quarter of a critical 54-43 Mississippi Valley Conference girls' basketball victory over No. 7 Cedar Falls Friday night at Kennedy High School.

'When they came back and tied it, I was hoping we would have more in our legs at the end than they did,” said Kennedy Coach Tony Vis. 'And I felt that we did.”

Kennedy (11-5 overall, 6-2 MVC) assembled an 11-2 run to break a 38-all deadlock, and picked up a win that could be significant when regional pairings come out Feb. 2, especially since the highest seed in each 5A region now has the option to host a regional final.

'That's exactly what we're striving for,” said Stephanie Botkin, who registered 18 points and nine rebounds. 'There are a lot of teams out there that we're even with. We needed something to set us apart.

'We hadn't had that really big win. This was a really big win, and it could help us with regional pairings.”

It was a win worth savoring, and celebrating. The Cougars did, with gusto and decibels.

'Sometimes we're kind of quiet, even after a win, if we don't play particularly well,” Botkin said. 'Once, Coach commented that it sounded like a funeral in here.”

Vis used a primary rotation of eight players, with two more earning spot action. Cedar Falls (12-3, 5-3) basically played six. The Cougars enjoyed a 17-3 advantage in bench scoring and were the fresher team when it mattered.

Botkin scored a couple of baskets and Lela Sellers added a bucket and a free throw as the Cougars scored seven straight points for a 45-38 advantage with 3 minutes left. And that was the ball game.

'I don't think we could have won this game four to six weeks ago,” Vis said. 'They made a run. We answered. They made another run. And we answered one more time.”

The first half featured seven ties and six lead changes and ended in a 22-22 stalemate.

Kennedy broke to a 31-23 lead, then the Tigers rallied to tie it. The Cougars went back in front, 38-33. Cedar Falls pulled even again.

Then came the Cougars' decisive, final push.

Sellers added nine points and nine boards for the winners.

Jamie Becker paced Cedar Falls with 10 points.

CEDAR RAPIDS KENNEDY 54, CEDAR FALLS 43

At C.R. Kennedy

CEDAR FALLS (43): Jamie Becker 3-9 3-4 10, Emma Gerdes 1-5 2-4 5, Addison Long 4-14 0-2 9, Ally Conrad 3-6 0-0 7, Adrienne Boettger 4-8 1-3 9, Kiana Barney 1-4 0-0 3. Totals 16-46 6-13 43.

C.R. KENNEDY (54): Sydney Hayden 1-2 3-4 6, Lela Sellers 4-9 1-2 9, Abby Hellweg 1-5 2-5 4, Linden Runels 0-4 0-0 0, Stephanie Botkin 5-10 7-8 18, Katelyn Dye 2-4 2-3 6, Hailey Dolphin 2-5 2-2 6, Ashley Hamilton 2-2 0-0 5, Olivia Hellweg 0-0 0-0 0, Brinley Milbrath 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-41 17-24 54.

Halftime: Kennedy 22, Cedar Falls 22. 3-point goals: Cedar Falls 5-17 (Becker 1-6, Gerdes 1-2, Long 1-5, Conrad 1-3, Barney 1-1), Kennedy 3-9 (Hayden 1-1, A.Hellweg 0-2, Runels 0-1, Botkin 1-4, Hamilton 1-1). Team fouls: Cedar Falls 18, Kennedy 14. Fouled out: Gerdes. Rebounds: Cedar Falls 28 (Gerdes, Boettger 6), Kennedy 31 (Sellers, Botkin 9). Assists: Cedar Falls 9 (Long 4), Kennedy 4 (four with 1). Steals: Cedar Falls 9 (Conrad 4), Kennedy 13 (Botkin 4). Turnovers: Cedar Falls 19, Kennedy 17.

l Comments: (319) 368-8857; jeff.linder@thegazette.com