Washington girls upset Kennedy

CEDAR RAPIDS – They still prefer the full-court, pressing defense. Their coach still substitutes girls in and out like it's a hockey game.

The Cedar Rapids Washington Warriors still can beat quality opponents.

'To this point in the season, our biggest win,” Coach Frank Howell said, after Wash upset Class 5A 10th-ranked Cedar Rapids Kennedy, 53-46, Tuesday night at the Cougar gym. 'Our best collective focus, and our best collective effort by far.”

It has been an adjustment for Howell and company with the graduation loss of star players Dani Franklin and Aleena Hobbs. Everyone has a new role, newbies are playing for the first time.

Washington (4-3) moved the ball around well offensively, took an early lead, lost it in the third quarter but responded with a run that put Kennedy (5-2) away.

It helped a lot that the Cougars couldn't make shots. They were 1 for 16 from 3-point range.

Leading scorer Lela Sellers was held to 10 points, well under her scoring average, on 2-of-10 shooting. Second-leading scorer Steph Botkin got into foul trouble early and wasn't all that much of a factor.

'Couldn't be prouder of our team,” said Wash post player Kandis O'Donnell. 'I thought we worked hard during the week. We were excited to finally get to this game and play it. We played tremendous, we came together.”

O'Donnell had a game-high 13 points, the only Warrior in double figures, though 11 girls scored. It could have been a larger spread had Washington not been an icy 13 of 26 from the free-throw line.

Oh, well. It was still a really nice win.

'The 3-point line can kind of be a devil sometimes either way,” Howell said. 'We've got to play them again, so … one of the things we emphasized was getting a hand up on the shooter. I thought we did a good job of that.”

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AT C.R. KENNEDY

C.R. WASHINGTON (53): Courtney Squires 3-9 2-3 8, Anne Visser 1-5 2-4 5, Alexandra Semrau 3-6 0-2 7, Joniqua Clark 1-4 5-6 8, Kandis O'Donnell 5-7 3-3 13, Daris Corey 1-3 0-0 2, Payton Bruner 1-4 0-0 2, Lillian Hartman 1-1 0-0 2, Jessica Puk 0-4 1-3 1, Brittany Cullen 0-0 0-0 0, Jayla Pledge-Johnson 1-1 0-1 2, Brittany Hoeger 1-1 0-2 3, Emily Oler 0-0 0-2 0, Alanna Arrington 0-0 0-2 0. Totals 18-45 12-26 53.

C.R. KENNEDY (46): Abigail Hellweg 1-2 1-3 2, Linden Runels 1-3 0-0 3, Stephanie Botkin 4-9 3-4 11, Lela Sellers 2-11 6-10 10, Sydney Hayden 2-11 1-2 5, Katelyn Dye 3-6 4-5 10, Hailey Dolphin 1-4 0-1 2, Ashley Hamilton 1-6 0-0 2. Totals 15-52 15-25 46.

Halftime – Washington 28, Kennedy 26. 3-point goals – Washington 4-15 (Squires 0-3, Visser 1-4, Semrau 1-4, Clark 1-1, Puk 0-2, Hoeger 1-1), Kennedy 1-16 (Hellweg 0-1, Rumels 1-3, Sellers 0-4, Hayden 0-8, Hamilton 0-1). Rebounds – Washington 32 (Visser 6), Kennedy 40 (Dye 10). Total fouls – Washington 19, Kennedy 26. Fouled out – Botkin, Dye, Hamilton. Turnovers – Washington 12, Kennedy 12.

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