Kennedy makes it 11 straight

CEDAR RAPIDS — Linden Runels has been on a state-championship soccer team. She knows what can happen when talent intersects with chemistry.

'That soccer team (in 2014), we played for each other,' Runels said. 'And you see that a lot with this team.'

It's a team, and a season, that could be special.

Lela Sellers celebrated her 18th birthday with a brilliant defensive effort to go with 17 points and eight rebounds, and Class 4A fourth-ranked Cedar Rapids Kennedy slowed 5A ninth-ranked Linn-Mar's stars in a 60-47 Mississippi Valley Conference girls' basketball triumph Tuesday night at Kennedy High School.

'We defended them well,' Cougars Coach Tony Vis said of Sellers' job on Amanda Ollinger and Carly Langhurst's shadowing of Kamryn Finley. 'We discovered we were a (man-to-man) team last year. We forged that identity.'

Kennedy (11-1 overall, 5-0 MVC) won its 11th consecutive game, holding Ollinger and Finley to 8-of-31 shooting from the floor. The Cougars trailed, 26-23, at halftime, took the lead in the third quarter and pulled away in the fourth.

Runels and Sydney Hayden hit back-to-back 3-pointers — the Kennedy PA announcer termed Runels' trey a 'swisherooni' — to highlight an 11-0 run that made it 55-42 and put the game away.

'We competed hard for three quarters, but they outplayed us in the fourth,' said Linn-Mar Coach Jaime Brandt. 'It's the same as Iowa City High (Dec. 15). We have one of the most talented teams in the state, but we need to get mentally tougher in the fourth quarter.'

Sellers said: 'I think we were in better shape at the end.'

Like Runels, Kennedy starters Carly Langhurst and Sydney Hayden were on that soccer championship team of 2014. They're proven winners. Add a talent like Liberty University signee Sellers — she moved to Cedar Rapids before her junior season — and the Cougars have something clicking.

Sellers was one of four Cougars in double figures. Hayden added 13, Hailey Dophin 12 (along with seven rebounds, four assists and three steals) and Runels 10.

Ollinger posted 15 points and 11 rebounds, but shot 5 of 18 from the floor. Megan Murphy hit 4 of 6 shots from long range and added 12 points, all before halftime, for the Lions (6-2, 4-1). Finley added eight points on 3-of-13 shooting.

'We just played man,' Sellers said. 'I thought we might go box-and-one, but it was man-to-man, and we helped each other out.'

Finley's 3-pointer with 6:25 remaining brought the Lions within 44-42 before the Cougars went on their pivotal run.

Kennedy is at Dubuque Wahlert on Friday; Linn-Mar hosts Cedar Falls. 

CEDAR RAPIDS KENNEDY 60, LINN-MAR 47

At C.R. Kennedy

LINN-MAR (47): Alie Akers 0-0 0-0 0, Lexi Frese 1-1 0-0 2, Brittney Lancial 0-0 0-0 0, Kamryn Finley 3-13 1-4 8, Amanda Ollinger 5-18 3-6 15, Ally Johnson 2-5 0-0 6, Megan Murphy 4-5 0-0 12, Carly Spies 2-3 0-0 4. Totals 17-46 4-11 47.

C.R. KENNEDY (60): Carly Langhurst 2-5 1-1 5, Sydney Hayden 4-7 3-5 13, Lela Sellers 6-14 3-3 17, Hailey Dolphin 2-11 8-10 12, Linden Runels 3-7 3-4 10, Olivia Hellweg 0-2 0-0 0, Ashley Hamilton 1-2 0-0 3, Kendal Meier 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-48 18-23 60.

Halftime: Linn-Mar 26, Kennedy 23. 3-point goals: Linn-Mar 9-22 (Finley 1-6, Ollinger 2-6, Johnson 2-4, Murphy 4-6), Kennedy 6-14 (Langhurst 0-1, Hayden 2-3, Sellers 2-3, Dolphin 0-4, Runels 1-1, Hellweg 0-1, Hamilton 1-1). Team fouls: Linn-Mar 19, Kennedy 8. Fouled out: none. Rebounds: Linn-Mar 32 (Ollinger 11), Kennedy 34 (Dolphin 7). Assists: Linn-Mar 7 (Ollinger 3), Kennedy 7 (Dolphin 4). Steals: Linn-Mar 4 (Finley, Ollinger 2), Kennedy 9 (Dolphin 3). Turnovers: Linn-Mar 14, Kennedy 8.

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