Kennedy gets past Washington to advance to substate finals

CEDAR RAPIDS - You didn't pay too close of attention when they kept telling you how much better they were getting defensively. Seems like every team says stuff like that. But the Cedar Rapids Kennedy Cougars proved Friday night it wasn't lip service. It was truth. It wasn't offense that allowed them to escape Cedar Rapids Washington's upset bid, 55-47, in a Class 4A substate semifinal, that's for sure. "Defense definitely won this game tonight," said Kennedy's A.J. Carter. "Our offense wasn't good," said Kennedy Coach Jon McKowen. "We had success against them previously with some high-ball screens, but they made some adjustments. You can't really go away from what's worked for you, but we weren't able to counter them tonight. Defense won us this game. That has to happen because there are going to be games where your offense isn't very good." Kennedy (17-5) plays No. 2 North Scott (21-1) in a substate final Tuesday night at Clinton. The winner heads to Des Moines for the state tournament. The teams are mirror images of each other: undersized, with a penchant for 3-point shooting, spreading the floor and using all of it. Should be fun. "They are talented," said Kennedy's Drew Heitland. "But anybody is beatable, especially in substate. "Honestly, Kennedy was beatable Friday night. The Cougars had a lead the entire way and appeared on the verge of putting the game away several times but never did. Washington (6-17) always countered enough to keep it close. In fact, a Montaves Anderson layup made it a 37-36 game with 6:15 to go. "We did a good job," said Wash Coach Adam Sanchez. "We did what we wanted to do, kept it close. But we didn't make a couple of plays, and they made some plays." McKowen called timeout after Anderson's layup. "He basically told us to get it together, or he was going to put in different people that wanted to play," said Carter, who had a game-high 15 points. "He said if we didn't want to play, we shouldn't be here. If we didn't want it that bad, we shouldn't be out there." Carter had an ensuing pair of field goals and Heitland one, all on the interior, to take Kennedy back to a more comfortable 43-36 lead. Washington got it within three points down the stretch but no closer. "Every inter-city game is going to be close," said Heitland, who had 11 points, including seven free throws. "Every inner-city rivalry (game) is probably never going to be pretty. But a win's a win, I guess. Especially in substate." Kennedy kept Wash's two leading scorers, Jared Printy and Maurice Arrington in check to the tune of five and eight points, respectively. The Warriors actually had no one score in double figures and turned the ball over 16 times.Junior forward Keegan Moore led Washington with nine points and eight rebounds. Kennedy made 17 free throws to Washington's six, another game key. "We trapped them in the full court, and that really bothered them," Carter said. "They really didn't want any part of that too much. We got their guards to run around in circles a lot and not passing with their heads up."

AT C.R. KENNEDY 

C.R. WASHINGTON (47): Keegan Moore 4-7 1-2 9, Jared Printy 1-9 2-2 5, Maurice Arrington 4-8 0-0 8, Jake Kramer 1-4 3-5 5, Montaves Anderson 3-3 0-1 6, Tyler Soenksen 0-0 0-0 0, Razadon Taylor 2-3 0-0 4, Steven Kramer 2-3 0-0 6, Reid Snitker 0-2 0-0 0, Drew Hoeger 1-3 0-0 2, Terry Jenkins 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 19-43 6-10 47.

C.R. KENNEDY (55): Drew Heitland 2-3 7-9 11, Cole Murdock 1-4 2-2 5, Derek Jacobus 2-5 2-4 7, A.J. Carter 5-9 4-6 15, Zach Daniels 5-12 0-0 12, John Bardsley 1-3 3-4 5, Bryton Heisler 0-1 0-0 0, Austin Holzer 0-0 0-2 0, Jai Bil 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-37 17-27 55.

Halftime - Kennedy 27, Washington 19.

3-point goals - Washington 3-12 (Printy 1-6, Arrington 0-1, J. Kramer 0-2, S. Kramer 2-3), Kennedy 5-16 (Murdock 1-4, Jacobus 1-3, Carter 1-3, Daniels 2-5, Bardsley 0-1).

Rebounds - Washington 27 (Moore 8), Kennedy 21 (Heitland 7).

Total fouls - Washington 19, Kennedy 10.

Fouled out - Anderson.

Turnovers - Washington 16, Kennedy 12.