‘Crafty’ Brewster leads Kennedy past Xavier

CEDAR RAPIDS - Teams looking for answers after losses to top-10 teams faced off at Cedar Rapids Kennedy, but only the host Cougars came away feeling like they found something.

With a career-high 18 points, Kennedy sophomore Drake Brewster scored in double figures for the second-straight game as the Cougars routed Class 3A No. 3 Cedar Rapids Xavier, 72-44, Friday night in the Mississippi Valley conference boys' basketball opener for the 42nd Street rivals.

'Drake's got a scoring mentality,” Kennedy Coach Jon McKowen said. 'His teammates just put him in great positions to score tonight. He was catching the ball around the hoop, and one-on-one from two feet we're going to take Drake most nights. He's crafty.”

The 6-foot-4 Brewster scored all but two of his points in the second half, using a variety of smooth moves around the basket off well-executed assists.

'Our game plan was really well,” Brewster said. 'We executed almost perfectly. We did a good job. My teammates are unselfish. They found me; they got me the ball. I was open, so that is all you can ask for.”

Senior Zach Daniels led Kennedy (2-1, 1-0 MVC) with four assists, and his two 3-pointers gave the Cougars an 8-2 lead they never relinquished. Cole Murdock drained a 3-pointer as time expired in the first half to push the Cougars' lead to 30-18, then added a runner at the third-quarter horn to keep the lead at 12 points.

'Those shots at the end of the quarters, they're kind of big,” said Murdock, who finished with 15 points. 'Keep the momentum going into the next quarter.”

Sophomore Max Techau was the third Kennedy player to score in double figures with 12 points, and added seven rebounds. At 6-foot-6, Techau and his teammates tested Xavier's limited depth by pushing the pace defensively, clogging the lanes and repeatedly getting a hand on the ball. Only two players - including 19 from Adam McDermott - managed more than five points for Xavier (1-2, 0-1 MVC).

'They're just a lot further along than us right now,” Xavier Coach Ryan Luehrsmann said. 'You can just tell that they've got an excellent chemistry together.”

AT C.R. KENNEDY

C.R. XAVIER (44): Michael Mims 2 2-2 8, Adam McDermott 6 4-4 19, Mitchell Burger 2 0-0 5, Connor Ramlo 1 0-0 2, Joe Welch 1 0-0 2, Blake Whitten 0 0-0 0, Jackson Joens 0 0-0 0, Matt Downey 0 0-0 0, Calvin Winker 2 0-0 4, Noah Clasen 0 0-0 0, Tom Otting 2 0-0 4, Totals 16 6-6 44.

C.R. KENNEDY (72): Zach Daniels 2 0-0 6, Curtis Odom 0 0-0 0, Bryton Heisler 3 3-4 9, Cole Murdock 6 0-0 15, Matt Gardner 1 0-0 2, Tyler Kadolph 0 0-0 0, Rey'ez Bell 0 0-0 0, Max Techau 5 2-2 12, Chris Krystofiak 1 0-0 3, Drake Brewster 8 2-3 18, Brendon Manning 2 3-4 7, Derek Girling 0 0-0 0, Terrence Hall 0 0-0 0, Jacob Ross 0 0-0 0, Adam Wall, Totals 28 10-15 72.

Halftime-Kennedy 30, Xavier 18. Three-point goals-Xavier 6 (McDermott 3, Mims 2, Burger 1), Kennedy 6 (Murdock 3, Daniels 2, Krystofiak 1). Total fouls-Kennedy 12, Xavier 17. Fouled out-Winker.

l Comments: douglas.miles@thegazette.com