Balanced Linn-Mar rolls past Kennedy

MARION - It turns out Jordan Bohannon doesn't have to explode offensively for the Linn-Mar Lions to win basketball games. He didn't even have to hit his scoring average Tuesday night.

Everyone else chipped in beautifully in Linn-Mar's 76-56 win over Cedar Rapids Kennedy.

Like Riley Murphy, who tied Bohannon - the Iowa Hawkeye recruit - with a game-high 17 points. Like Jared Printy, who connected on six of his seven shots from the field in a 16-point night.

Like undersized forward Jordan Brant, who battled his way to a 12-point, eight-rebound game. That's four of five starters with double-figures scoring, and center Beau Klostermann wasn't far off with nine points.

'It's fun when you see Jordan go off, get a hot hand, but that balance is nice,” said Linn-Mar Coach Chris Robertson. 'When you can get guys to step up, that's nice. Because they get guys scrambling around (defensively), and you get different guys to pop open. I thought our guys played with confidence on the offensive end, and were willing to step up and take shots.”

Bohannon had 40 points in Linn-Mar's last game before the holiday break, but was actually human here. Kennedy (3-5, 1-3 Valley Division of Mississippi Valley Conference) 'held” him six points under his average and to only 6-of-19 shooting, but couldn't contain the rest of the Lions.

'We all know we can knock down shots,” Murphy said. 'Jordan's not going to be scoring 40 points every night. He expects us to knock the shot down, and that's what we did tonight.”

Linn-Mar (5-2, 4-0) led from start to finish, though Kennedy hung around for the most part. A driving Murphy layup and steal of the inbounds pass and layup put the Lions up by 51-38 midway through the third quarter.

Kennedy got within eight early in the fourth, only to have Linn-Mar pull away again for good. Guard Michael Bisenius had five 3-pointers and 15 points, though only one trey in the second half.

Sophomore guard Derrick Diggins, coming off the bench for the first time this season, added 14 points, though only four in the second half.

'I think we found a lot of answers tonight. Absolutely,” said Kennedy Coach Jon McKowen. 'Our goal last week was to learn how to compete. We struggled early with our roles. I didn't do a good job of defining them for them early. Because with all these new pieces, I was still trying to learn them a little bit.

'I thought there were times tonight when we could have quit ... but our kids really buckled down. I saw it in their eyes. They really competed well.”

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AT LINN-MAR

C.R. KENNEDY (56): Drake Brewster 4-7 3-7 11, Shaun Beyer 3-8 0-0 6, Michael Bisenius 5-8 0-0 15, Matthew Gardner 2-7 0-2 4, Derek Girling 1-4 0-0 2, Derrick Diggins 5-11 2-2 14, Jackson Foley 0-0 0-0 0, Adam Wall 0-0 0-0 0, Matthew Berst 1-2 0-0 3, Nick Duehr 0-0 0-0 0, Carter Krall 0-0 1-2 1, Ryan King 0-1 0-0 0, Kollin Wiebel 0-0 0-0 0, Isaiah Harris 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-49 6-13 56.

LINN-MAR (76): Jordan Brandt 2-10 7-8 13, Beau Klostermann 2-7 5-9 9, Riley Murphy 6-10 2-2 17, Jared Printy 6-7 0-0 16, Jordan Bohannon 6-19 3-3 17, Reese Phillips 1-2 1-2 3, Tyler Voves 1-2 0-0 2, Forrest Cronin 0-0 0-0 0, Nathan Mentzer 0-0 0-0 0, Kirby Kerr 0-0 0-0 0, Andrew Kraus 0-0 0-0 0, Dylan Hand 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-57 18-24 76.

Halftime – Linn-Mar 39, Kennedy 33. 3-point goals - Kennedy 8-22 (Brewster 0-2, Bisenius 5-8, Gardner 0-2, Girling 0-1, Diggins 2-6, Berst 1-2, King 0-1), Linn-Mar 10-24 (Brandt 1-3, Murphy 3-6, Printy 4-5, Bohannon 2-9, Phillips 0-1). Rebounds – Kennedy 31 (Brewster 8), Linn-Mar 39 (Brandt 8). Total fouls – Kennedy 18, Linn-Mar 11. Fouled out – None. Turnovers – Kennedy 17, Linn-Mar 10.

l Comments: (319) 398-8259; jeff.johnson@thegazette.com