Coleman helps Kennedy dunk Jefferson, 55-39

CEDAR RAPIDS - As he politely waited to be interviewed postgame, Josiah Coleman was suddenly summoned by his coach. Bob Fontana had just been asked a question about Coleman by a reporter, and he wanted the 6-foot-4 senior wing to hear what he had to say.

“He was OK tonight,” Fontana said with a grin, as he put his arm around Coleman. “He could have gotten a little higher on that dunk.”

That dunk was a beauty, a one-handed tomahawk job in the second half off a missed shot by a teammate. It was the appropriate capper for Cedar Rapids Kennedy's 55-39 win over Cedar Rapids Jefferson Friday night.

The way Coleman and the Cougars played most of the way, this win was an absolute slam dunk.

“We played great,” said point guard Darius Fuller. “We played well together, played good team ball. We played great defense, got after it. I just think we played pretty well.”

Especially Coleman. He scored 15 points and tore down seven rebounds in a performance befitting a guy who has Division I college offers from schools like Wyoming and Texas-El Paso.

There are times the kid is a frustrating non factor, then there are games like Friday night.

“It drives me nuts. Seriously. I tell him that daily,” Fontana said. “But you know what, I can get on him as hard as I can, and he's good with it.”

“Like Coach says, sometimes when my jumper's not falling, I let that affect my game,” Coleman acknowledged. “So I've got to focus on when it's not falling, I've got to get to the rim. I've got other ways I can score.”

It seems to all be coming together for Kennedy (14-5), which in its last three games has beaten Linn-Mar, lost by a point to top-ranked Iowa City West and emphatically reversed a decision from earlier this season. Coleman and Fuller didn't play in the first game between these two because of school-imposed suspension. Important starting forward Alec Saunders didn't play Friday night for Jeff (12-7) because of a badly sprained ankle.

“They totally took us out of our offense in the first half,” Jefferson Coach Stu Ordman said. “They played tremendous man-to-man defense.”

Jefferson shot just 29 percent from the field. The J-Hawks had just 11 field goals in the game, five from leading scorer Taylor Olson, who finished with a team-high 14 points.

Kennedy, meanwhile, hit 56 percent from the field. The Cougars were terrific on both sides of the basketball, building a 17-4 lead after a quarter and a 31-12 edge at halftime.

“We really emphasized starting strong, and I thought our kids came out with a good mindset,” Fontana said. “I thought we came out and established what we wanted to do early. We followed the game plan, almost to a ‘T.'”

AT C.R. JEFFERSON

C.R. KENNEDY (55): Cody Bell 4-8 0-0 8, Josiah Coleman 6-7 2-2 15, Elliott Christians 3-3 0-1 6, Darius Fuller 4-9 0-1 8, Trevor Heitland 2-6 3-5 7, Josh Jahlas 2-3 0-0 4, Alex Hayden 2-4 0-0 5, Blake Murdock 0-0 0-0 0, Benjamin Struss 1-2 0-0 2, Johnathon Koelling 0-0 0-0 0, Austin Rhoads 0-1 0-0 0, A.J. Carter 0-0 0-0 0, Taylor Oltmann 0-0 0-0 0, Andrew Johnson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-43 5-9 55.

C.R. JEFFERSON (39): Ky Kramer 2-8 1-2 7, Tyler Hemphill 1-8 2-2 5, Justin Underwood 2-3 5-6 9, Creighton Robinson 1-6 0-0 3, Taylor Olson 5-10 4-6 14, Austin Goodell 0-2 0-0 0, Layne Sullivan 0-1 1-2 1, Terrance Taylor 0-0 0-0 0, Taylor Mueller 0-0 0-0 0, Jason Lafler 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 11-38 13-18 39.

Halftime - Kennedy 31, Jefferson 12.

3-point goals - Kennedy 2-9 (Bell 0-1, Coleman 1-1, Fuller 0-1, Heitland 0-4, Hayden 1-2), Jefferson 4-15 (Kramer 2-5, Hemphill 1-5, Robinson 1-3, Sullivan 0-1).

Rebounds - Kennedy 27 (Coleman 7), Jefferson 22 (Kramer, Hemphill, Olson 3).

Total fouls - Kennedy 12, Jefferson 17.

Fouled out - Hemphill, Olson.

Turnovers - Kennedy 12, Jefferson 11.