Cedar Rapids Kennedy pulls away from Urbandale in 5A girls’ basketball regional opener

The jitters were there, no doubt about it.

With the first half nearly over, the Cedar Rapids Kennedy girls’ basketball team was looking up at a 22-16 deficit in Wednesday night's Class 5A regional quarterfinal matchup with Urbandale.

Then, as interim Coach Madi Meier stated after the game, the Cougars found their stride.

A late push before the break gave Kennedy a 29-26 lead. After halftime, the Cougars opened with three straight 3-point baskets to gain control for good en route to a 67-50 win at the Kennedy gym.

Now 12-10, Kennedy hits the road for a regional semifinal against 15th-ranked Waukee Northwest (13-8) on Saturday at 7 p.m.

Urbandale retires at 5-17.

“Honestly, in the first half we couldn't get shots to go,” said Meier, who is leading the team while head coach Andy Courtney continues his recovery from emergency cardiac surgery about two weeks ago. “We told the girls the first three minutes were important and we needed to start the third quarter, the way we ended the second.”

After hitting just a pair of shots from beyond the arc in the first half, Kennedy got 3s from Ella Moser, Kaliyah Sain and Tori Knight on consecutive possessions to push its halftime margin to double digits.

“We were able to get our transition game going,” Meier said. “We wanted to push the ball and limit their second-chance points by boxing out and I thought we did a much better job of that in the second half.”

Sain, a multi-talented junior, was the focus of Urbandale's defense. The 6-foot guard found herself on the floor several times in the first half, the final time coming when she was called for a charging foul just before the halftime break. It was her third foul, but she was able to play the second half without picking up another.

“It was a very physical game,” Meier said. “We told the girls to be ready for that, especially against a team we've never seen. They play in a very tough conference (the CIML) and Urbandale definitely brought that tonight.”

The visiting J-Hawks were able to cut a 16-point deficit to 11 after three quarters but a pair of 3-point baskets from Knight pushed the lead to 20 with just over three minutes to play, assuring the Cougars of at least one more contest.

Sain led all scorers with 22 points. Addy Alber added 12 while Knight chipped in with 10. Reserves Dharma Woodruff and Devon Carlile paced the visitors with 10 apiece.

Meier says the Cougars relish the opportunity to play on Friday night in Waukee.

“I think the girls got their jitters out tonight,” she said. “We've been playing against some really tough teams, teams that will end up in the state tournament. I think we're ready. We compete, we battle and that's what we're going to do Saturday.”

URBANDALE (50): Taylor Mulligan 2 1-2 5, Bri Tigges 3 0-1 6, Tera Pippett 1 3-6 5, Josie Birdwell 2 0-0 4, Maria Long 3 0-4 6, Alayna Schipper 1 0-0 2, Dharma Woodruff 4-2-4 10, Devon Carlile 4 0-0 10, Crystal Ruden 1 0-0 2, Alexandra King 0 0-0 0, Alena Havran 0 0-0 0, Maddy Stutler 0 0-0 0. Totals: 21 6-17 50.

CR KENNEDY (67): Ella Cadenhead 1 2-2 4, Ella Moser 1 3-4 6, Tori Knight 3 1-2 10, Addy Alber 4 4-5 12, Kaliyah Sain 8 3-5 22, Aleksyia LeClere 2 0-2 4, Janelle Minor 1 1-2 3, Kyla Holm 2 0-0 4, Rylee VanDresar 0 2-2 2, Grace Park 0 0-0 0, Keara Millsap 0 0-0 0. Totals: 22 16-24 67

Urbandale 14 12 11 13 - 50

CR Kennedy 14 15 19 19 - 67

3-point goals: Urbandale 2 (Carlile 2), Kennedy 7 (Sain 3, Knight 3, Moser). Team Fouls: Urbandale 22, Kennedy 15. Fouled out: Mulligan. Technical fouls: none.