Another Eastern Iowa domination in Class 4A?

CEDAR RAPIDS - Jon McKowen listed all the virtues of the Class 4A quarterfinal opponent for his Cedar Rapids Kennedy Cougars at the boys' state basketball tournament.

Sioux City North has an extensive list of them, beginning with Daniel Tillo, a 6-foot-5 junior wing player who is very likely a Division I college player in two years.

"He's 6-5, has a quick release," said McKowen, Kennedy's first-year head coach. "Then he's left-handed, which makes him even more difficult to defend."

McKowen went on to describe how North likes to spread the floor and give its athletes freedom to take defenders one-on-one. He mentioned how it loves the transition game.

Then he stopped himself.

"But, you know, at time of year, you can't forget what we do well," McKowen said. "We're at the state tournament for a reason."

That's for sure. Kennedy is 18-5, fresh off a substate final upset of third-ranked North Scott and one of four teams from the mighty Mississippi Valley Conference to make it to Des Moines, including three in the 4A field. Perhaps you need to look at it from the other end.

Sioux City North should be extolling all of Kennedy's virtues.

"If we can play well, play solid, then we're going to be fine," McKowen said.

Kennedy has played a staggering 18 ballgames decided by 10 points or less and won 15 of them. The Cougars won't overwhelm you physically, but they like to pressure defensively and play quick and shoot the 3 on offense.

It's been a great debut for McKowen, a Fairbank native who came back to Iowa after a successful stint as head coach at Ottawa (Kan.) High School, including a state championship in 2013.

"As a first-year coach, you don't know if the kids will buy in. You don't know if the community will buy in," McKowen said. "You take a pretty big chance when you buy a house in the district."

Last year's 4A tournament turned into an all-Eastern Iowa affair, with Iowa City West, Bettendorf, Cedar Falls and Dubuque Senior making it to the final four. It could be that way again, with Bettendorf the top seed, Senior No. 2 and West No. 4.

Kennedy drew the 'six.'

"This is as open a 4A field as I've ever seen," said West Coach Steve Bergman. "Lots of parity."

West, of course, is seeking its third consecutive state championship, with a quarterfinal date with Southeast Polk. The Trojans (20-3) had their 60-game win streak snapped in January by Senior, lost in overtime to Minneapolis (Minn.) DeLaSalle and to Dubuque Wahlert, ranked No. 1 in 3A.

Wyatt Lohaus is a serious candidate for Mr. Basketball, but the maturation of a bunch of generally inexperienced guys behind him has been key for West. Guys like David DiLeo, Chike Ukah and freshman point guard Connor McCaffery.

"This season has kind of been what I thought," Bergman said. "I thought we'd have some growing pains. We started out being overly successful, won some games by a long ways, and that may not have been good. Some of our younger guys starting thinking 'This isn't so hard.' Then our schedule changed. We've learned from that. We've been tested.

"I like our talent. It's good. But our inexperience is something that's a concern."