Strong offseason helps C.R. Kennedy get off to strong early season

MARION — Games are won in the offseason.

That might be as cliche as cliche gets, posted on every team's Facebook and Twitter page and stitched on virtually every prep athlete's T-shirt as motivation.

But if you talk to the Cedar Rapids Kennedy Cougars, they insist it's absolutely true. Just look at them.

'The offseason is very important,' Kennedy's Drake Brewster said, after his team's 68-47 boys' basketball win Tuesday night at Linn-Mar. 'You've got to do a lot of work in the offseason to get to where you want to be during the actual season. We learned that. The only way to win games, really, is to be together. There is no 'That's your fault, that's my fault.' You take responsibility for things, but your teammates pick you up. You are never by yourself in any aspect of the game.'

Kennedy (2-0) advanced to the state tournament in Jon McKowen's first two seasons as head coach but backslid to an 11-12 record last season. McKowen pointed to a lack of spring and summer preparation.

Coaches can spend a lot more time with their players than they used to be able to, but his kids weren't necessarily taking advantage of that. This offseason, they did.

'Number one, our time and effort in the gym leading into last season just wasn't good,' he said. 'We had some guys in there, but we didn't have everybody in there. It showed last year. When things went bad, we weren't overly confident. When you are prepared the correct way, you are confident. And our kids are confident right now.'

They moved the basketball well offensively and played McKowen's preferred scrambling, pressure defense to overwhelm an inexperienced and rebuilding Linn-Mar team. The Lions (1-1) have really only one guy who played a lot last season (guard Reese Phillips), and he missed this one with a kidney injury incurred during hard contact in their opener this past Saturday against Bettendorf.

'They're better. Their experience showed tonight, and our inexperience showed,' Linn-Mar Coach Chris Robertson said. 'We have the pieces. They just have to understand they need to learn from tonight. You've got to try and put it behind you and learn. It's not acceptable, but it's understandable ... For two and a half quarters, we competed. We just had so many untimely turnovers.'

That would be 18 total, including at the end of the second and third quarters that directly led to baskets by Kennedy's Malik Haynes. He popped a 3-pointer to give Kennedy a 25-16 halftime lead, then a layup for a 43-29 edge going to the fourth.

Senior forward Brewster led the Cougars with 16 points. Guard Derrick Diggins added 13 and Haynes 12.

Kennedy shot it at just over 50 percent from the field to Linn-Mar's 36 percent. Tyler Voves led the Lions with 13 points, with promising sophomore forward Trey Hutcheson adding 12.

'I thought we came out with good energy, but we weren't perfect,' Brewster said. 'We weren't efficient (offensively) as much as we wanted to be.'

'I don't know if you could ever measure teams you've had, but this has got to be one of the best teams I've had, as far as the offseason,' McKowen said. 'Not just in being there, but being there and doing it the right way. Then on their own, too. They were beating down the doors trying to get into the gym more often. It shows. When you work that hard, good things come.'

AT LINN-MAR

C.R. KENNEDY (68): Drake Brewster 8-14 0-1 16, Jackson Foley 0-1 4-4 4, Derrick Diggins 6-13 1-2 13, Matt Berst 3-6 0-0 6, Malik Haynes 4-9 2-2 12, Nick Duehr 0-1 0-0 0, Ki Jenkins 1-4 0-0 3, Isaiah Harris 2-2 0-0 4, Keeler Dix 0-0 0-0 0, Duncan Schultejans 0-0 0-0 0, Aijay Davis 1-1 0-0 2, Jake Olejniczak 0-0 0-0 0, Caleb Carlson 0-0 0-0 0, Ryan King 2-2 2-3 6, Andrew Basquin 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-53 9-12 68.

LINN-MAR (47): Trey Hutcheson 4-11 4-6 12, Nate Annis 0-1 1-2 1, Nolan Ruff 3-7 0-0 6, Cole Martin 1-6 0-0 3, Tyler Voves 4-6 2-2 13, Dylan Hand 1-7 0-0 2, Jacob Robertson 1-3 2-2 4, Jack Gertsen 2-2 0-0 4, Kirby Kerr 1-3 0-0 2, Aaron Pistulka 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 17-47 9-12 47.

Halftime — Kennedy 25, Linn-Mar 17. 3-point goals — Kennedy 3-11 (Diggins 0-3, Berst 0-1, Haynes 2-4, Jenkins 1-3), Linn-Mar 4-20 (Hutcheson 0-1, Ruff 0-3, Martin 1-4, Voves 3-4, Hand 0-5, Robertson 0-2, Pistulka 0-1). Rebounds — Kennedy 21 (Berst, Haynes 5), Linn-Mar 38 (Hutcheson 9). Total fouls — Kennedy 11, Linn-Mar 15. Fouled out — None. Turnovers — Kennedy 7, Linn-Mar 18.

l Comments: (319) 398-8259; jeff.johnson@thegazette.com