Cedar Rapids Kennedy’s win over Jefferson is an inside job

CEDAR RAPIDS — It’s quite frankly in their DNA to take a lot of 3-pointers. That’s just the team they have, not to mention their system.

But the Cedar Rapids Kennedy Cougars found shots inside the arc much to their liking Tuesday night. And way, way effective.

The dribble drive and the post up were the main ways Kennedy used to build a lead and overwhelm Cedar Rapids Jefferson, 84-44, on the west side. This was a statement coming out of the holiday break.

“Just really important to start at a high point,” said Kennedy’s Jackson Bowman.

Bowman and his teammates were not stopped in this game, or even remotely slowed. They shot 64 percent from the field, taking a 51-29 lead at halftime.

Guards Kenzie Reed and Colby Dolphin seemed to penetrate at will, hitting shots on their own or setting up their bigs. Bowman led Kennedy (5-2, 3-0 Mississippi Valley Conference Valley Division) with 16 points, most of them from point-blank range.

Six-foot-six junior center Craig Mills added 13 off the bench and had a team-best seven rebounds.

“We knew we had the height against them,” Mills said. “We came into practice, especially over break, getting the post touches in ... We knew we were going to dominate inside. That was easy money all day.”

Coming in, 39 percent of Kennedy’s scoring came from 3-pointers and 46 percent of its shots came from beyond the arc.

“Our kids just kept feeding the post,” said Kennedy Coach Jon McKowen. “That’s the best our posts have done posting up ... We have good bigs. We just need to get them the ball in good spots.”

“Some games we have our 3-point shooters just spraying all night, and we’ve just got to get boards,” Mills said. “Other games, it’s the big men going to work. Our team is so versatile. Everyone can shoot the ball, everyone can rebound ... It keeps teams guessing.”

Dolphin added 12 points, Reed 11 and Cyrus Courtney 10 for Kennedy.

“So far this season, our guards have been able to create what they want in the outside game,” Bowman said. “Tonight they shut that down, and our bigs went to town.”

Jefferson (5-3, 1-2) went into break having to sit on a loss to Iowa City Liberty in which the Lightning hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to win. J-Hawks Coach Wes Bruns said he didn’t think that played a factor here, saying Kennedy just took his team apart.

Andreas Williams had 22 points and Ayrondus Hodges 11 for Jefferson, which already has won more game than all last season.

“Kennedy is a very good team. They’ve got size, shooters, are hard to guard,” Bruns said. “We weren’t playing real well as a team. Hopefully we can figure that out.”

AT CEDAR RAPIDS JEFFERSON

C.R. KENNEDY (84): Jackson Bowman 7-8 2-2 16, Cyrus Courtney 4-5 0-0 10, Colby Dolphin 3-7 5-5 12, Kenzie Reed 5-10 0-0 11, Carson Blietz 1-2 2-2 5, Craig Mills 6-8 1-1 13, Carter Newhouse 3-5 0-0 9, Brenden Linde 1-1 0-0 2, Connor Jeffords 0-0 0-0 0, Jack Schissel 1-2 0-0 2, Isaiah Morgan 2-2 0-0 4, Dkhai Pope 0-0 0-0 0, Tristan Steichen 0-0 0-0 0, Deven Williams 0-0 0-0 0, Micah Jauhlainen 0-2 0-0 0, Carson Lang 0-0 0-0 0, Jacob O’Shea 0-0 0-0 0, T.J. Robertson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 33-52 10-10 84.

C.R. JEFFERSON (44): Ian Wiederin 0-2 0-0 0, Kaden Haller 1-5 0-0 2, Andreas Williams 8-19 0-0 22, Brayden Kindhart 0-2 0-0 0, Ayrondus Hodges 3-12 3-5 11, Caden Schroeder 2-2 1-4 5, Kay’Zure Lewis 0-3 3-4 3, Blessing Olutunde 0-0 0-0 0, Carson Dighton 0-0 1-2 1, Jacob Strain 0-0 0-0 0, Landon Augustine 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 14-45 8-14 44.

Halftime - Kennedy 51, Jefferson 29. 3-point goals - Kennedy 8-17 (Courtney 2-3, Dolphin 1-5, Reed 1-4, Blietz 1-2, Newhouse 3-3), Jefferson 8-21 (Wiederin 0-2, Haller 0-1, Williams 6-11, Kindhart 0-1, Hodges 2-5, Lewis 0-1). Rebounds - Kennedy 28 (Mills 7), Jefferson 21 (Haller, Williams, Hodges 4). Total fouls - Kennedy 14, Jefferson 12. Fouled out - None. Turnovers - Kennedy 7, Jefferson 12.

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