Saints slow Strait, clobber Cougars

(3A & 4A regional semifinal scores ... HERE)

CEDAR RAPIDS -- The goal was pretty simple, really. Hold Courtney Strait beneath her season average.

"We thought if we held her below 20 points, we would do really well," Kayla Armstrong said.

The Xavier Saints did that. And then some.

Fifth-ranked Xavier shadowed Strait every step of the way and smothered No. 12 Cedar Rapids Kennedy, 59-32, in a Class 4A girls' basketball regional semifinal before a crowd of nearly 1,000 Saturday night at Ron Thillen Gymnasium.

The Saints (17-5) held Strait to nine points, outrebounded Kennedy (13-10) by a 46-25 margin and won convincingly.

"We kind of changed our philosophy with (Strait)," said Xavier Coach Tom Lilly. "We put Armstrong and (Katlyn) Andersen on her, and we thought they might see the (size) mismatch and try to get her down low.

"We wanted to squeeze that off and limit her touches."

Xavier will face Cedar Rapids Prairie in a regional final at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Linn-Mar. The Hawks (12-9) drubbed Dubuque Senior, 75-44, Saturday.

The state's leading scorer in 4A at 21.2 points per game, Strait was held to 3-of-15 shooting from the field.

"She likes to post up down low, and I think we defended her well down there," said Xavier post Alex Bartz, who enjoyed a big statistical night with 15 points and 16 rebounds.

Bartz led an attack that pushed four players into double figures. Andersen added 14 points, Emily Walvoord 11, Armstrong 10.

The first possession of the game was indicative of the way things would go throughout.

Xavier won the tip, then Bartz grabbed two offensive rebounds and converted on the second.

Kennedy took its only lead at 7-6, but Andersen hit a 3-pointer to ignite a 9-0 run to finish the quarter. Xavier led 15-7 after one period, 26-12 at halftime.

"We didn't take advantage of the opportunities we had," Strait said. "We didn't play with momentum, and we turned the ball over too much."

The Cougars shot 24 percent (11 of 45) from the floor.

"Xavier took advantage of their right to play on their home floor, and they earned that right," said Kennedy Coach Dennis Roloff. "They're a very good team at home, and they were a very good team tonight."

Kennedy had a glimmer of hope in the third quarter, creeping within 10 points on three occasions. But Xavier closed strong, outscoring the Cougars 21-5 in the fourth period.

Madison Meier added eight points for Kennedy.

C.R. XAVIER 59, C.R. KENNEDY 32

At C.R. Xavier

C.R. KENNEDY (32): Madison Meier 3-4 0-0 8, Courtney Strait 3-15 2-5 9, Kaylese Johnson 0-3 2-2 2, Paige Hendrickson 1-9 0-0 2, Steohanie Botkin 1-3 0-0 2, Jordan Holmes 2-9 1-4 6, Taylor Wagner 0-0 0-2 0, Mariah Simmons 0-1 1-2 1, Capria Davis 1-1 0-0 2, Aryn Nelson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 11-45 6-15 32.

C.R. XAVIER (59): Kayla Armstrong 1-4 8-10 10, Annie Dale 0-3 0-1 0, Katlyn Andersen 4-8 5-6 14, Emily Walvoord 5-10 1-1 11, Alex Bartz 6-10 3-7 15, Ashley Stulken 0-1 0-0 0, Nicole Noonan 0-2 0-0 0, Sarah Dickes 1-2 2-2 5, Lisa Boomgarden 0-0 2-2 2, Maddie Bertsch 0-1 0-0 0, Katelyn Winker 0-0 0-0 0, Hayley Deutmeyer 0-0 2-2 2. Totals 17-41 23-31 59.

Halftime: Xavier 26, Kennedy 12. 3-point goals: Kennedy 4-21 (Meier 2-3, Strait 1-6, Hendrickson 0-4, Botkin 0-1, Holmes 1-6, Simmons 0-1), Xavier 2-6 (Dale 0-1, Andersen 1-2, Noonan 0-1, Dickes 1-2). Team fouls: Kennedy 23, Xavier 16. Fouled out: none. Rebounds: Kennedy 25 (Strait 6), Xavier 46 (Bartz 16). Assists: Kennedy 7 (Strait, Johnson, Hendrickson 2), Xavier 11 (Andersen 3). Steals: Kennedy 8 (Strait 3), Xavier 9 (Walvoord 3). Turnovers: Kennedy 16, Xavier 17.

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