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Cedar Rapids Kennedy to Class 4A boys’ state basketball championship game with convincing win over Ankeny
Top-ranked Cougars score 27 points in first quarter to build a 17-point lead en route to 63-51 semifinal win Thursday night
Mar. 7, 2024 8:22 pm, Updated: Mar. 7, 2024 11:00 pm
DES MOINES — Their warmup jersey tops show a metropolitan skyline with the words ‘Cedar Rapids’ under that logo.
Kennedy’s boys’ basketball team will be playing a state championship game for its city Friday night.
A crazy good first quarter propelled the No. 1 Cougars to a not-as-close-as-it-seemed 63-51 win over No. 8 Ankeny in a Thursday night Class 4A semifinal at Wells Fargo Arena. Kennedy (25-0) takes on No. 2 West Des Moines Valley (20-5) in Friday night’s title game at 7.
Kennedy beat Valley in the regular season, 60-43, though star player Curtis Stinson Jr. of the Tigers did not play because of injury.
“We want to be a part of the community,” Kennedy Coach Jon McKowen said. “I came from a small town, obviously, in Fairbank and Wapsie Valley (High School) where everybody is a part of it. We love it when we walk into a place and they say ‘Hey, Kennedy, you guys have a good basketball team.’ We have a conversation about it.
“It doesn’t matter what school you go to, it doesn’t matter where you live in town. We’re Cedar Rapids. We compete with each other, but we also cheer for each other when we’re not playing each other. That’s kind of the gist of (the logo).”
The last Metro winner was Cedar Rapids Xavier, which took back-to-back 3A championships in 2016 and 2017. The last 4A champion from the Metro was Linn-Mar in 2011.
The last public school representing Cedar Rapids to win it all was Prairie in 1998. The last championship for a school in the Cedar Rapids Community School District was Kennedy in 1984.
“It’d mean the world to win it,” Kennedy’s Cyrus Courtney said. “You’d think it would mean a lot to the city, too. Everybody’s doubted the MVC (Mississippi Valley Conference), in general. But if we go and get a ‘W’ in the championship game, that’d be big.”
Micah Schlaak owned the first half offensive for Kennedy, then tagged in Courtney for the second. Both finished with a team-best 17 points.
Schlaak had all 17 of his in the first half, 13 in a first quarter that saw Kennedy ride to what turned out to be an insurmountable 27-10 lead. Courtney had 11 of his points in the third quarter.
Joe Bean and Trey McKowen added 13 points apiece in the game, showing that Kennedy can get offense from many places.
“I don’t know, it’s hard to tell,” Schlaak said. “Our team is so diverse that anybody can score. So if they’re helping off a different teammate, they’re going to pass it to me, and I’m going to get open looks. That’s just a characteristic of our team, and that makes us so hard to guard.”
“We saw a little bit of a mismatch with Micah and their guy,” Trey McKowen said. “Micah just had size and foot speed, so we wanted to exploit that right away. I mean, Micah got off to a hot start and really fueled us right away.”
Kennedy has shown the ability to go on massive runs this season, and the opening period fit that bill. While the Cougars struggled offensively at times in their quarterfinal win over Dallas Center-Grimes, they made 11 of 16 shots from the field, a 15-0 run taking them from 5-2 down to 17-5 ahead.
Their scrambly defense forced Ankeny into eight turnovers, the Cougars scoring 15 points off of them.
Ankeny got going in the second quarter. Specifically, Ankeny’s Rio Aguirre got going, the sophomore hitting three treys and a free throw to help cut Kennedy’s lead to 39-29 at the break.
But Courtney helped the Cougars reassert themselves in the third quarter. They led by as many as 19 points.
“Obviously we got out in our transition a lot more,” Trey McKowen said. “And we moved the ball. (Assistant) Coach (Larry) Williams always talks about moving the ball. It helps a lot whenever we move the ball. We always get good possessions, and that showed.”
Kennedy did a marvelous job defensively on Ankeny star Carson Johnson in the game. Class 4A’s leading scorer had just nine points on 4-of-13 shooting.
“The key was everybody,” Coach McKowen said. “You have to have vision of where’s he at. He is so good when he gets the ball that, you know, he makes tough shots. You’re not going to block him, he’s quick, he can step back. He plays with a great rhythm and pace. So it was not letting him get the ball in places he likes to start.”
The Central Iowa Metro League has won the last five 4A championships. The last 4A champ from the Mississippi Valley Conference was Cedar Falls in 2019, led by Milwaukee Bucks guard A.J. Green.
Coach McKowen won a state championship in Kansas in 2013.
Cedar Rapids Kennedy 63, Ankeny 51
AT WELLS FARGO ARENA
ANKENY (51): Cade Pederson 2-3 0-0 4, Cash Schoolen 1-1 2-2 4, Lio Aguirre 4-9 1-2 11, Rio Aguirre 6-12 2-4 18, Carson Johnson 4-13 0-0 9, Luke Anderson 0-4 0-0 0, Gunnar Breding 2-2 0-0 5, Cale Josten 0-0 0-0 0, Trey McKillip 0-0 0-0 0, Nolan Dalton 0-1 0-0 0, Landyn Clark 0-0 0-0 0, Jacob Hogan 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 19-46 5-8 51.
CEDAR RAPIDS KENNEDY (63): Cyrus Courtney 8-16 0-0 17, Trevan Krumrei 0-0 0-0 0, Micah Schlaak 6-7 4-4 17, Trey McKowen 4-9 3-4 13, Joe Bean 6-9 1-2 13, Rashad Gatewood 0-1 0-0 0, Griffin Gerdes 1-2 0-0 3, Reuben Schlaak 0-1 0-0 0, Pierce McCrary 0-0 0-0 0, Calvin White 0-0 0-0 0, Jackson Burkert 0-0 0-0 0, Landon Deiters 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-45 8-10 63.
Halftime - Kennedy 39, Ankeny 29. 3-point goals - Ankeny 8-23 (Johnson 1-4, L. Aguirre 2-5, R. Aguirre 4-9, Breding 1-1, Anderson 0-4), Kennedy 5-15 (McKowen 2-5, Courtney 1-6, M. Schlaak 1-1, Gerdes 1-2, R. Schlaak 0-1). Rebounds - Ankeny 19 (Schoolen, L. Aguirre 5), Kennedy 26 (Courtney, Gerdes 6). Total fouls - Ankeny 13, Kennedy 11. Fouled out - None. Assists - Ankeny 8 (Johnson, L. Aguirre, R. Aguirre 2), Kennedy 4 (Courtney 2). Turnovers - Ankeny 14, Kennedy 12.
Comments: (319)-398-8258, jeff.johnson@thegazette.com
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