Top-ranked Kennedy back to state with methodical 76-48 substate final win over North Scott

IOWA CITY — Routine might not be the best word to describe Cedar Rapids Kennedy’s Class 4A substate final boys’ basketball game Tuesday night at West High School against North scott.

Boring has a negative connotation to it, so that’s not it. So let’s try methodical.

The way the top-ranked Cougars went about securing a 76-48 win and second consecutive berth in the state tournament was rather methodical, kind of mundane.

Not an explosive start, but a lead. A little more of a lead as the game continued, then a bit more of a spread, a bit more. No huge runs or tons of fast-break points off turnovers.

Just something here, something there, a lot of defense everywhere.

“Yeah, it kind of felt like a business trip today a little bit,” said Kennedy Coach Jon McKowen. “Things weren’t easy. They’re good, physical on your drives, so you’ve got to play with good balance and good pace. Offensively they play at a different pace, they slow it down ... The game wasn’t up and down. Possessions mean more in substate games.”

That Kennedy can win a grinder like this, and handily, is a boon going into next week. The Cougars quite probably will get another one in a Wednesday afternoon quarterfinal against Pleasant Valley (19-5), a Mississippi Athletic Conference member like North Scott.

PV actually won the MAC this season.

“Some games we know we’ll just have to grind out,” said Kennedy guard Colby Dolphin. “They don’t like to play fast, and we knew that coming in. We just had to see whose tempo was going to take over the game, and eventually ours took over.”

⧉ Related article: Photos: Cedar Rapids Kennedy advances to boys’ state basketball tournament with 76-38 win over North Scott

“We got some stops on offense, played great on defense,” McKowen said. “We didn’t turn them over much, not many live-ball turnovers for layups and runs out and things like that. So I think it didn’t maybe feel like some of our games. But you know, you’re happy that you win a game a different way. I doubt next week there will be many teams that want to play as fast as we do, so we might have to find different ways to win games. This time of year, it’s winning games by one. That’s all that matters.”

Cyrus Courtney led Kennedy (22-0) with 17 points and nine rebounds. Dolphin had 16 points, Micah Schlaak 10, and Trey McKowen, the coach’s son, 10 off the bench.

Kennedy got a lot of good inside looks early, some that didn’t go down. Nerves.

“Felt a little more pressure actually, yep,” Courtney said. “It was a big game to go to state, so, yeah, just a lot more anxieties ... But we settled in.”

“It just speaks to our preparation, you know what I mean?” Dolphin said. “We’re just relentless competitors in practice. We compete in practice, we prepare in practice every single day. It shows in the game.”

So Kennedy heads to Wells Fargo Arena the only undefeated team in 4A. Waukee is the tournament’s second seed, Waukee Northwest third and West Des Moines Valley fourth.

Kennedy is the only Mississippi Valley Conference representative at state, too. Waterloo West, Cedar Falls and Dubuque Senior all lost their substate finals Tuesday.

Kennedy beat Waukee Northwest in last year’s quarterfinals, losing to champion Ames in the semifinals. The Little Cyclones also are back in the state tourney field.

“Last year we just got our feet wet at the state tournament,” Dolphin said. “It was kind of just a new experience for us. This year, it’s kind of an old experience. We know what we’re going to get, we know what it takes, we just know we’ve got to compete.”

AT IOWA CITY WEST

NORTH SCOTT (48): Brennan Reid 3-6 3-4 12, Kyler Gerardy 1-7 1-2 3, Kavon Phillips 5-7 6-6 16, Drew Kilburg 2-11 3-4 7, Tyler Watkins 1-5 1-2 4, Drew Sacia 1-4 0-0 3, Colin Albrecht 0-0 0-0 0, Cayden Meskimen 1-2 0-0 3, Grant Peterson 0-1 0-0 0, Drew Eller 0-0 0-0 0, Tate McLaughlin 0-0 0-0 0, Owen Jordahl 0-0 0-0 0, Lucas Kopp 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 14-43 14-18 48.

CEDAR RAPIDS KENNEDY (76): Cyrus Courtney 7-8 2-3 17, Micah Schlaak 5-9 0-0 10, Carter Newhouse 1-5 1-2 4, Colby Dolphin 6-12 2-3 16, Kenzie Reed 2-8 3-4 7, Trey McKowen 3-4 2-2 10, Landon Deiters 0-0 0-0 0, Trevan Krumrei 1-1 1-2 4, Jace Scott 1-2 0-0 3, Reid Hall 0-0 0-0 0, Tristan Steichen 1-1 0-0 2, Donovan Slick-Driscoll 0-0 0-0 0, Micah Jauhiainen 0-0 0-0 0 0, Nolan Grawe 1-1 0-0 3, Griffin Gerdes 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-51 11-16 76.

Halftime - Kennedy 39, North Scott 23. 3-point goals - North Scott 6-23 (Reid 3-5, Gerardy 0-2, Kilburg 0-6, Watkins 1-4, Sacia 1-4, Meskimen 1-2), Kennedy 9-18 (Courtney 1-1, Newhouse 1-3, Dolphin 2-6, Reed 0-2, McKowen 2-3, Krumrei 1-1, Scott 1-1, Grawe 1-1). Rebounds - North Scott 27 (Phillips 9), Kennedy 27 (Courtney 9). Total fouls - North Scott 16, Kennedy 16. Fouled out - None. Turnovers - North Scott 14, Kennedy 6.

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