A little pregame practice leads to a big offensive performance for Cedar Rapids Kennedy’s Joe Bean

CEDAR RAPIDS — Joe Bean did some early work prior to Thursday night’s game for his Cedar Rapids Kennedy boys’ basketball team. A lot of early work, actually.

The senior guard showed up at the Cougars gym in the afternoon and put up a few jump shots. Over 600 of them in a personal little practice that took about an hour and a half.

Let’s just say the kid worked up a heck of a sweat.

“I like to play a game when I’m on the shooting machine where I have to make 10 3s in a row from five spots on the floor,” Bean said, after Class 4A top-ranked Kennedy beat Linn-Mar, 79-53. “I think I went about an hour and a half. Not that long.

“I think it helped me tonight. Shooting the ball that many times, you get a good feel of it. And also my teammates getting me the ball, creating for me, that helped me out a lot.”

Thus, Bean went from scoring one point in Kennedy’s previous game last weekend against fifth-ranked Waukee to a team-high 19 here against the 10th-ranked Lions, including four 3-pointers. Throw a game-high 11 rebounds in there, too.

Kennedy ran its record to 9-0.

“The best part is his teammates find him, and he finds other guys, too,” said Kennedy Coach Jon McKowen, talking about Bean’s unselfishness. “I think he only shot the ball the other night in the second half once. There was something that was off. But he was in here early today.

“With work comes confidence.”

Kennedy had six different players score, five of them hit 3-pointers, in a first quarter that saw it ride to a 22-12 lead. The Cougars expanded their edge to 40-23 at halftime and 58-36 after three quarters.

To its credit, Linn-Mar (6-4), which has faced a gauntlet of a schedule to this point in the season, cut into Kennedy’s lead in the fourth quarter before the Cougars built it back up to the final margin. Davis Kern led the Lions with 20 points in yet another solid effort out of the 6-foot-9 junior forward, but a technical foul he was given in the third quarter illustrated the frustration he and his team have been feeling.

Linn-Mar has lost three in a row, all to teams in the current 4A top 10. It has played six of that top 10 so far this season.

“We know what we can be,” Kern said.

And Kennedy knows what it can be. This was the 29th consecutive regular-season victory for the Cougars, who can get scoring from so many different guys, though McKowen said he has been disappointed with his team’s ball movement since it returned from holiday break.

Cyrus Courtney added 14 points, Trey McKowen 11 and Micah Schlaak 10 in the game for Kennedy.

“It’s pretty exciting because we’re winning some of these games by a lot, and in practice, we’re talking about the little things, how everyone has to work on the little things,” Bean said. “Work on the little things on defense, talking and stuff like that. When we can do that, we will play better as a team.”

Cedar Rapids Kennedy 79, Linn-Mar 53

AT CEDAR RAPIDS KENNEDY

LINN-MAR (53): Payson Nietert 3-9 0-0 7, Davis Kern 9-12 1-1 20, Matthew Darbouze 2-3 2-2 6, Owen Havlik 3-5 0-0 7, Mason Matson 2-5 2-2 7, Jake Wallrichs 0-1 0-0 0, Andrew Davenport 0-2 0-0 0, Tyler Hilton 0-0 0-0 0, Max Robertson 1-2 0-09 3, Garrett Bauermeiester 0-0 0-0 0, Maclain Felber 0-0 3-4 3. Totals 20-39 8-9 53.

C.R. KENNEDY (79): Cyrus Courtney 5-13 2-2 14, Trevan Krumrei 2-5 2-2 7, Micah Schlaak 4-5 1-2 10, Joe Bean 7-13 1-2 19, Trey McKowen 3-10 4-4 11, Griffin Gerdes 1-3 0-0 3, Landon Deiters 1-4 2-3 4, Pierce McCrary 2-4 0-0 5, Reuben Schlaak 0-0 0-0 0, Rashad Gatewood 0-2 3-6 3, Marty Blakey 1-2 0-0 3, Calvin White 0-0 0-0 0, Jackson Burkert 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-61 15-21 79.

Halftime - Kennedy 40, Linn-Mar 23. 3-point goals - Linn-Mar 5-18 (Nietert 1-6, Kern 1-3, Havlik 1-3, Matson 1-3, Davenport 0-1, Robertson 1-2), Kennedy 12-29 (Courtney 2-5, Krumrei 1-4, M. Schlaak 1-1, Bean 4-7, McKowen 1-7, Gerdes 1-2, Deiters 0-1, McCrary 1-2, Blakey 0-1). Rebounds - Linn-Mar 24 (Nietert 6), Kennedy 35 (Bean 11). Total fouls - Linn-Mar 18, Kennedy 16. Fouled out - None. Turnovers - Linn-Mar 18, Kennedy 10.

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