Caleb Schlaak’s monster game for Kennedy against Washington will be profitable

CEDAR RAPIDS - Pay up, Gramps.

Caleb Schlaak registered 30 points and 18 rebounds, and Cedar Rapids Kennedy parlayed a big advantage from its bigs into a 63-48 Mississippi Valley Conference boys' basketball victory over Cedar Rapids Washington on Friday at Washington High School.

'I got a text from my grandpa before the game,” said Schlaak, a senior who will continue his career next year at Truman State University. 'He said if I got eight rebounds, I'd get 5 dollars, and if I got 10, I'd get 10.”

So in this pay-to-perform deal, what is 18 boards worth?

'I don't know,” Schlaak said. 'He might go for 20 bucks for that.”

Schlaak stands 6-foot-7. So does Jackson Bowman, who went for 17 points. Six-foot-6 Cole Hrubes added 11 points. So that's 58 of Kennedy's 63 points right there.

'Caleb, he's played varsity for us since after Christmas of his freshman year,” Kennedy Coach Jon McKowen said. 'He has continued to get better. And with the other guys, you can't just key on one of them.”

The first quarter was the difference. Kennedy (1-0) scored 13 consecutive points after a 2-2 tie, and led 21-6 at the end of the period.

'Our defense did a good job of stopping them, they we really pushed in transition,” Schlaak said. 'We got some easy points in transition, then we did it over and over again.”

Kennedy was in control the rest of the way, leading 33-18 at halftime and taking its largest advantage of 53-30 with 6:30 remaining.

Washington (0-1) scored 10 straight points to creep within 53-40, but Bowman and Schlaak scored inside to stunt any comeback hopes.

Traijan Sain paced the Warriors with 22 points. Jaden Harris added 11 points.

The rematch is Feb. 5 at Kennedy.

CEDAR RAPIDS KENNEDY 63, CEDAR RAPIDS WASHINGTON 48

At C.R. Washington

C.R. KENNEDY (63): Max White 0-0 0-1 0, Cole Hrubes 4-8 0-0 11, Caleb Schlaak 9-18 11-13 30, Jackson Bowman 6-9 5-5 17, Kenzie Reed 1-7 3-4 5, Craig Mills 0-0 0-0 0, Colby Dolphin 0-1 0-0 0, Jack Schissel 0-1 0-0 0, Avante Ballinger 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20- 48 19-11 63.

C.R. WASHINGTON (48): Wyatt Cain 1-3 2-2 4, Traijan Sain 7-16 5-5 22, Quincy Underwood 1-6 0-0 2, Jesse Sellers 3-7 2-3 9, Jaden Harris 4-10 2-3 11, Willie Hodges 0-2 0-0 0, Zaren Ross-Carr 0-0 0-0 0, Chase Mahoney 0-0 0-0 0, Asa Greco 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-42 11-13 48.

Halftime: Kennedy 33, Washington 18. 3-point goals: Kennedy 4-16 (White 0-1, Hrubes 3-7, Schlaak 1-3, Reed 0-3, Dolphin 0-1, Schissel 0-1), Washington 5-18 (Cain 0-1, Sain 3-4, Underwood 0-2, Sellers 1-4, Harris 1-5, Hodges 0-2). Team fouls: Kennedy 15, Washington 18. Fouled out: none. Technical: Washington bench. Rebounds: Kennedy 36 (Schlaak 18), Washington 24 (Cain 4). Assists: Kennedy 10 (Reed 4), Washington 4 (four with 1). Steals: Kennedy 4 (Reed 2), Washington 4 (Sellers 2). Turnovers: Kennedy 7, Washington 9.

Comments: (319) 368-8857; jeff.linder@thegazette.com