Murdock breaks ice, lifts Kennedy

CEDAR RAPIDS -- This was a Polar Vortex-like chill.Cole Murdock provided the thaw.Murdock drained a pair of 3-pointers early in the fourth quarter to reignite Cedar Rapids Kennedy to a 55-52 victory over Cedar Rapids Jefferson in a Mississippi Valley Conference boys' basketball game Friday night at Kennedy High School."We'd been getting good looks, but we just weren't knocking them down," said Murdock, a junior guard. "But once we did, we got going again."Kennedy improved to 6-1 overall (4-0 MVC) under first-year coach Jon McKowen."The kids have really embraced coaching -- not just from me, but the whole staff," said McKowen, who took over after Bob Fontana took the job at Ankeny Centennial. "There are lots of ways to win basketball, and if the kids are buying in, they're going to have success."Right now, I'm having a blast."Kennedy led 32-26 at halftime behind 52-percent shooting, then went cold. Ice cold.The Cougars missed 14 straight shots from the field -- 12 in the third quarter, then the first two of the fourth -- as Jefferson (1-6, 0-5) rallied to tie the game at 38-all.Then Murdock hit a long shot as Kennedy reclaimed the lead. It wasn't long until he hit another to give the Cougars a 45-40 advantage.Murdock, like his teammates, have embraced the new regime."Coach has brought in some good change," he said. "We're all on the ship."Kennedy held a 52-46 lead in the final minute, but the victory wasn't secure until Jefferson's Jacob Olson -- the game's leading scorer with 19 points -- left a 3-pointer short and Kennedy's Drew Heitland cradled in the rebound and held it until the buzzer sounded.Murdock led Kennedy with 13 points. Heitland, A.J. Carter and Bryton Heisler added 10 apiece for the winners.Bryce Cardis added 10 for the J-Hawks. 

CEDAR RAPIDS KENNEDY 55, CEDAR RAPIDS JEFFERSON 52

At C.R. Kennedy

C.R. JEFFERSON (52): Jacob Olson 7-13 1-2 19, Jacob Van Oort 2-6 1-1 5, Brandon Wiederin 2-5 0-0 4, Lucas Larson 3-7 1-1 7, Tyler Konigsmark 1-6 1-2 4, Adam Van Oort 0-1 1-2 1, Bryce Cardis 4-5 1-2 10, Marcus Colbert 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 20-44 6-10 52.

C.R. KENNEDY (55): Zach Daniels 0-2 4-6 4, A.J. Carter 4-7 1-2 10, Cole Murdock 5-8 0-0 13, Bryton Heisler 2-10 5-8 10, Drew Heitland 4-8 2-2 10, Derek Jacobus 0-3 1-2 1, B.J. Bil 2-6 0-0 4, Brendon Manning 0-3 1-2 1, Austin Holzer 1-3 0-2 2, Brandon Buck 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 18-51 14-24 55.

Halftime: Kennedy 32, Jefferson 26.

3-point goals: Jefferson 6-14 (Olson 4-7, Wiederin 0-3, Larson 0-1, Konigsmark 1-2, Cardis 1-1), Kennedy 5-14 (Daniels 0-1, Carter 1-2, Murdock 3-6, Heisler 1-5).

Team fouls: Jefferson 18, Kennedy 12.

Fouled out: Cardis.

Rebounds: Jefferson 27 (J.Van Oort, Cardis 5), Kennedy 34 (Heitland 8).

Assists: Jefferson 9 (Wiederin 3), Kenendy 9 (Carter 5).

Steals: Jefferson 5 (Wiederin 2), Kennedy 9 (Daniels, Holzer 2).

Turnovers: Jefferson 16, Kennedy 9.