Cougars whip Waterloo West

CEDAR RAPIDS — With white numerals on white jerseys, it's an eye strain to tell who's who for the Cedar Rapids Kennedy girls' basketball team — with or without a program.

Maybe that's kind of fitting. Tuesday night, it wasn't the players. It was the unit.

Class 5A 12th-ranked Kennedy scored in a wide variety of methods and blasted Waterloo West, 81-44, in the Mississippi Valley Conference opener for both teams at Kennedy High School.

'We like to make you play fast,' said Kennedy sophomore Hailey Dolphin. 'That's our kind of game.'

Actually, the Cougars (1-1 overall, 1-0 MVC) have more than one kind of game.

Early on, they riddled West (1-2, 0-1) with 3-pointers and seemingly countless offensive rebounds. Ashley Hamilton drilled three consecutive 3-pointers at the end of the first quarter for a 19-7 lead.

It was 31-21 at halftime, then Kennedy applied the knockout blow — an 18-0 haymaker in the first 3 1/2 minutes of the third quarter predicated on tempo.

'This is probably the best offensive team I've had in four years here. We have a lot of different kids who can do a lot of different things,' said Kennedy Coach Tony Vis. 'It's early in the year, and I don't know where this will end, but they really seem to like each other and root for each other.'

Kennedy has multiple options, yes, but it also has a certified go-to player in Liberty University signee Lela Sellers, who posted 22 points and 14 rebounds.

'We're comfortable with each other,' Sellers said. 'We learned a lot in our first game (a 49-43 loss to defending 5A state champion Waukee). We know we can stay with anybody.'

Ten different Cougars scored, and they hit 11 3-pointers in 29 attempts. Dolphin added 17 points, Hamilton tallied 11.

'My teammates pushed the ball, and they found me in transition,' Dolphin said.

Kennedy finished with a 52-31 rebounding advantage.

Tahya Campbell paced the Wahawks with 22 points, hitting 9 of 12 shots.

Kennedy is at Iowa City High on Friday. West hosts Linn-Mar.

CEDAR RAPIDS KENNEDY 81, WATERLOO WEST 44

At C.R. Kennedy

WATERLOO WEST (44): Aliyah Robinson 2-10 0-0 4, Tahya Campbell 9-12 2-3 22, Mackenzie Wehr 1-3 0-0 3, Na'Tracia Ceaser 2-8 0-0 5, Tae'Anna Phillips 1-5 3-5 5, Uniquie Miller 1-3 1-2 3, Aleah Cook 0-1 0-0 0, Jessica Werner 0-3 2-4 2, Jada Draine 0-0 0-0 0, Zia Collett 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 16-46 8-14 44.

CEDAR RAPIDS KENNEDY (81): Carly Langhurst 1-4 0-0 3, Sydney Hayden 3-10 0-0 8, Lela Sellers 10-20 0-0 22, Hailey Dolphin 7-12 2-3 17, Linden Runels 1-6 2-3 4, Olivia Hellweg 3-6 1-2 8, Paige Timmerman 0-3 1-2 1, Ashley Hamilton 4-8 0-0 11, Kendal Meier 0-2 0-0 0, Alana Steele 0-2 2-2 2, Kate Choate 2-3 0-0 5, Margaret Gallagher 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 31-76 8-12 81.

Halftime: Kennedy 31, West 21. 3-point goals: West 4-18 (Robinson 0-3, Campbell 2-4, Wehr 1-3, Ceaser 1-4, Phillips 0-2, Miller 0-1, Werner 0-1), Kennedy 11-29 (Langhurst 1-1, Hayden 2-8, Sellers 2-5, Dolphin 1-3, Hellweg 1-2, Timmerman 0-2, Hamilton 3-5, Meier 0-2, Choate 1-1). Team fouls: West 14, Kennedy 18. Fouled out: Ceaser. Rebounds: West 31 (Robinson, Campbell 6), Kennedy 52 (Sellers 14). Assists: West 7 (Robinson 3), Kennedy 14 (Langhurst, Hayden 3). Steals: West 10 (Campbell, Phillips 3), Kennedy 10 (Langhurst 3). Turnovers: West 17, Kennedy 12.

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