Kennedy survives 3 Ts, Prairie in 60-53 win

CEDAR RAPIDS -- On the old intensity meter, this one reached about a, oh, 26 or 27 out of 10. You knew it would.

"It was hyped up to be what it was," Cedar Rapids Prairie forward Matt MacDougall said after his team's 60-53 loss Tuesday night to Cedar Rapids Kennedy at an amped-up Hawks gym. "I wasn't surprised at all."

Kennedy (10-3) overcame three technical fouls, a spirited opponent playing for the second consecutive night and a subplot that had to do with the opponent being so spirited. It was a telltale 10-0 run in the final 3:50 that untied the game and put the Cougars over the top as they reached double figures in victories.

Prairie dropped to 6-8.

"Survive, that's a good word," Kennedy Coach Bob Fontana said. "We battled through it."

Let's address the 'T's first. Forward Joe Coleman and Fontana were given a pair in the third quarter: Coleman after picking up an offensive foul and Fontana for arguing a separate foul call on his team.

Then center Elliott Christians - who led Kennedy with 17 points - was 'T'-ed in the closing seconds for allegedly elbowing a Prairie player while trying to clear him away following a rebound and foul. That last one was called as the teams were walking up the floor for free throws and had Fontana positively fuming following the game.

"I've been a head coach for 21 years, and I've never had a team get more than one technical in a game," he said. "So this was something different. And two of the three were just absurd. The last one, I've never even heard of stuff like that. 'We should have called it earlier on the baseline when he elbowed the guy?' Are you kidding me? Then call it then."

Now let's talk about the subplot. Coleman and starting guards Trevor Heitland and Darius Fuller are among several basketball players who have transferred to Kennedy from Prairie, and there's no question there is some lingering ill will between certain people at the two schools.

The student sections spent the night ribbing each other with chants regarding the issue and Coleman and Fuller's season-beginning suspension for violating school policy. It should be noted Prairie Coach James Moses is in his second season and has nothing to do with the transfers.

He has done a fine job beginning to resurrect a once-floundering program.

"I don't begrudge them. I wish they would have stayed, but you can't do anything about it," said MacDougall, the best player on the floor with 25 points and six rebounds. "We just have to play with what we have. We put up a good fight tonight."

Coleman's 3-pointer was followed by an and-one three-point play by Heitland and a Cody Bell 3-pointer in Kennedy's decisive late run. Heitland finished with 14 points, as Kennedy made 8 of 11 shots from the field in the second half and 18 of 29 free throws overall.

"We knew they were going to come out ready to play," Heitland said. "They were pumped up for this game. They always are every year. We expected it, but we didn't handle it as well as we wanted to at times. We just had to keep our composure and not let any of it get into our heads."

"(Prairie) made it known they've known the date of this game for a long time," Fontana said. "That's fine. I wouldn't want it any differently."

Here is the game boxscore:

AT C.R. PRAIRIE

C.R. KENNEDY (60): Cody Bell 3-5 0-0 8, Joe Coleman 3-5 0-0 7, Elliott Christians 3-8 11-15 17, Trevor Heitland 5-9 2-4 14, Darius Fuller 1-4 5-10 7, Ben Struss 0-0 0-0 0, Alex Hayden 2-3 0-0 5, Josh Jahlas 0-0 0-0 0, Patrick Martin 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 18-35 18-29 60.

C.R. PRAIRIE (53): Jacob Aune 2-7 0-0 4, DeMetrius Harper 2-5 0-0 4, Matt MacDougall 9-15 7-8 25, Jace Hanna 4-11 0-0 10, Thomas Eilers 2-5 2-2 8, Bryce Meeker 0-1 0-0 0, Kentrel Smith 1-2 0-3 2, Brooks Kehoe 0-1 0-0 0, Jomaryon Simpson 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 20-49 9-13 53.

Halftime - Kennedy 29, Prairie 23. 3-point goals - Kennedy 6-10 (Bell 2-4, Coleman 1-1, Heitland 2-3, Hayden 1-2), Prairie 4-20 (Aune 0-1, MacDougall 0-2, Hanna 2-8, Eilers 2-5, Smith 0-1, Kehoe 0-1, Simpson 0-2). Rebounds - Kennedy 33 (Christians 8), Prairie 21 (MacDougall, Aune 6). Total fouls - Kennedy 15, Prairie 22. Fouled out - Aune. Technical fouls - Coleman, Christians, Kennedy Coach Bob Fontana. Turnovers - Kennedy 17, Prairie 14.