Kennedy proves it's for real in 56-51 win over Wash

CEDAR RAPIDS - They've kind of been flying under the radar a little bit.

Those in the know always knew the Cedar Rapids Kennedy Cougars had a real good basketball team. Now everyone else should, too.

“I don't know if my team feels this way, but I've never felt like we've had to prove anything,” said Kennedy forward Jake Manning after his Cougars beat Cedar Rapids Washington, 56-51, in another terrific clash of Class 4A top tens from the Metro. “People can talk about whoever they want. It doesn't affect us. We're just going to come to play every game.”

The focus around these parts has been on Wash (ranked seventh), Linn-Mar (first) and Cedar Rapids Jefferson (fifth) because they all went to the state tournament last season and have Division I college players. But Kennedy's got talent, too, proven by their 6-0 start and No. 4 ranking.

The Cougars lost three close games last season to Washington (4-2) but made just enough plays down the stretch on both sides of the ball to win this thriller and overcome a brilliant shooting night by Iowa recruit Josh Oglesby, who finished with a game-high 28 points.

“It was a good team effort,” said Manning, who had 17 points and 12 rebounds. “We crashed the boards hard, had a lot of people contributing offensively and defensively.”

Oglesby hit eight 3-pointers, most of them from well past the arc, to help his club take a three-point lead in the fourth quarter but didn't get a shot off the final three minutes thanks in large part to the sticky defense of 6-foot-6 Oregon football recruit Christian French.

“The box score said Christian only had four points,” said Kennedy Coach Bob Fontana. “But in my mind, he had about 16 to 20. I know Josh had 28, but he had to work for every one.”

Manning hit a baseline jumper to give his team a 52-49 lead with 1:35 to go, only to be immediately countered by Wes Washpun's driving hoop. He was fouled but missed the ensuing free throw, part of a 2-for-9 night from the stripe.

That proved crucial since Kennedy made all 12 of its free throws, including four clinchers in the final minute from Jake Misener and Joe Coleman.

"I thought we came out ready to play," said Oglesby, whose team was coming off an emotional win last Friday night against Jefferson. "Just shooting woes, shooting woes from the line."

Washington came in hitting just 59.8 percent as a team from the line, a definitely problem area.

"Coach Metzger's been stressing free throws," Oglesby said. "We've been working on that because if you're not to execute them in a game, you're not going to win. It doesn't matter if you make as many as you can in practice."

Here's a game boxscore and short video interview with Manning:

AT C.R. KENNEDY

 C.R. WASHINGTON (51): Sean Bredl 0-0 0-0 0, Josh Oglesby 10-14 0-0 28, Cybryan Moa 1-8 0-0 2, Alex Carr 1-7 0-0 2, Wes Washpun 7-17 2-9 17, David Tann 0-1 0-0 0, Trenton Hoekstra 0-0 0-0 0, McCauley Todd 1-2 0-0 2, Brock Butterfield 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-49 2-9 51.

C.R. KENNEDY (56): Jake Manning 7-11 3-3 17, Christian French 2-4 0-0 4, Aaron Lamaak 5-10 1-1 11, Jake Misener 3-4 2-2 9, Darius Fuller 2-3 3-3 7, Joe Coleman 2-5 3-3 8, Herschel Dixon 0-0 0-0 0, Elliott Christians 0-1 0-0 0, Trevor Heitland 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 21-39 12-12 56.

Halftime - Kennedy 25, Washington 22. 3-point goals - Washington 9-25 (Oglesby 8-11, Carr 0-3, Moa 0-5, Washpun 1-5, Todd 0-1), Kennedy 2-6 (Lamaak 0-1, Misener 1-2, Coleman 1-3). Rebounds - Washington 21 (Washpun 5), Kennedy 27 (Manning 12). Total fouls - Washington 14, Kennedy 13. Fouled out - None. Turnovers - Washington 8, Kennedy 9.