Kennedy snaps Prairie's 8-game streak

CEDAR RAPIDS -- The Prairie Hawks forced the question, and the Kennedy Cougars provided a swift answer.

Cedar Rapids Kennedy pulled its second girls' basketball upset in four days, snapping Class 4A eighth-ranked Cedar Rapids Prairie's eight-game winning streak, 58-52, in a Mississippi Valley Conference contest Tuesday night at Kennedy High School.

"Think we're getting better?" Kennedy Coach Dennis Roloff asked as he left the winners' locker room.

Yes, Coach. Definitely, yes.

Kennedy (8-6 overall, 6-5 MVC) won its fourth straight game. The Cougars took down No. 6 Ames on the road Saturday, then followed that with another surprise.

"We're maturing," Roloff said. "We cut our practices down to an hour and a half each night to keep the kids fresh, and they've responded."

They certainly responded Tuesday after Prairie (11-4, 8-3) went on a third-quarter binge. The Hawks outscored the Cougars 19-6 to turn a 10-point halftime deficit into a 37-34 lead.

But Kennedy scored the first six points of the fourth quarter and maintained the lead the rest of the way, thanks to 14-of-14 free throw shooting in the final 4:47.

"We went to the fourth quarter, and we talked about having heart," said Kennedy's Courtney Strait.

Stephanie Botkin scored a pair of baskets inside and Paige Hendrickson added a steal and a layup to open the fourth quarter as Kennedy took a 40-39 lead. The Cougars did not shoot a free throw until their parade late in the game.

Strait paced the Cougars with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Hendrickson tacked on 13 points; Botkin -- a freshman -- added 12 points and eight boards.

Kennedy started the season 3-1, then dropped five of six games before the recent surge.

"In the past, we would dwell on our mistakes," Botkin said. "Now we're focusing on the positives."

Those have been much for frequent in recent weeks.

Prairie, which hadn't lost in seven weeks, trailed 28-18 at intermission. The Hawks chipped away at the deficit, then swallowed it whole with a 10-0 run at the end of the quarter.

"I thought we had the momentum going to the fourth quarter," said Prairie Coach Steve Doser. "But they got it right back there with a couple of baskets, then they hit all those free throws at the end.

"All the credit goes to Kennedy."

Strait made six free throws down the stretch, Botkin hit four and Madi Meier and Jordan Holmes made a pair apiece.

Alisa Weiland and Emilie Rotter tallied 13 points apiece for Prairie. Courteney McCrary posted 11 points and eight rebounds.

Kennedy hosts Iowa City High on Friday; Prairie is at Linn-Mar.

C.R. KENNEDY 58, C.R. PRAIRIE 52

At C.R. Kennedy

C.R. PRAIRIE (52): Katilyn Yanacek 0-4 1-2 1, Cyerra Hutchins 4-9 1-2 9, Alisa Weiland 5-11 2-2 13, Courteney McCrary 4-13 2-2 11, Madison Dellamuth 1-7 1-2 4, Emilie Rotter 6-7 1-2 13, Mackenzie Serbousek 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 20-51 9-14 52.

C.R. KENNEDY (58): Madison Meier 3-9 2-2 9, Courtney Strait 7-11 6-6 20, Kaylese Johnson 0-4 0-0 0, Paige Hendrickson 6-9 0-0 13, Stephanie Botkin 4-10 4-4 12, Mariah Simmons 1-8 0-0 2, Jordan Holmes 0-1 2-2 2, Sarah Zinser 0-0 0-0 0, Aryn Nelson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-52 14-14 58.

Halftime: Kennedy 28, Prairie 18. 3-point goals: Prairie 3-16 (Hutchins 0-2, Weiland 1-3, McCrary 1-6, Dellamuth 1-5), Kennedy 2-17 (Meier 1-5, Strait 0-3, Johnson 0-2, Hendrickson 1-2, Botkin 0-1, Simmons 0-3, Holmes 0-1). Team fouls: Prairie 15, Kennedy 13. Fouled out: none. Rebounds: Prairie 33 (McCrary 8), Kennedy 33 (Strait 10). Assists: Prairie 12 (Yanacek, McCrary, Dellamuth 3), Kennedy 8 (Strait, Johnson 2). Steals: Prairie 10 (Yanacek, Weiland 3), Kennedy 8 (Strait, Hendrickson 3). Turnovers: Prairie 19, Kennedy 16.

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