Vanessa Eniola, Sammy Mia lead Cedar Rapids Washington girls’ basketball in win over Kennedy

CEDAR RAPIDS — The Cedar Rapids Washington girls' basketball team starts five guards, none taller than 5-foot-9.

What the Warriors may lack in size, they more than make up in speedy, versatile scorers.

Senior Vanessa Eniola scored a season-high 24 points, while junior Sammy Mia added 20 as the Warriors defeated Kennedy, 64-55, in a non-conference girls' basketball game Friday night at Kennedy High School.

'We're a really small team so hustling is a really big thing that we do,' Eniola said. 'That is where we are strongest, running up and down the court. Quickness, too. All five of us are really fast, so it is easy if we have tall people guarding us. We can get around them easier.'

Eniola helped the Warriors to an early 12-6 lead with eight points in the first quarter, including two 3-pointers.

A traditional three-point play by senior guard Jayla Johnson gave the Warriors their largest first-half lead at 17-10 early in the second quarter.

A 17-7 Kennedy surge, highlighted by 12 points from senior guard Hailey Dolphin, provided the Cougars with a 27-24 lead with a minute until halftime.

Two Eniola buckets reclaimed the lead for Washington, 28-27, at intermission.

The Warriors scored 17 of 24 points in the third quarter, led by 10 from Mia, and led by as many as 47-34 early in the final frame.

'We were really husting and pushing the ball up and down the floor,' Mia said. 'That's where I like to get my points and I thought we were doing a good job with that.'

Johnson finished with seven points for Washington (5-3).

'What's great is, these girls, they don't really care who gets all the points,' Washington Coach Chris James said. 'It's more about the team. When we share the ball, we're really hard to stop.'

Dolphin — a Rockhurst University recruit — led Kennedy (3-4) with a season-high 29 points, but was held to just two field goals in the second half. Senior guard Olivia Hellweg collected 10 points.

Washington visits Linn-Mar on Tuesday, while Kennedy travels to Fairfield today.

AT CEDAR RAPIDS KENNEDY

Cedar Rapids Washington 64, Cedar Rapids Kennedy 55

C.R. WASHINGTON (64):

Caitlin Riley 1 3-4 5, Vanessa Eniola 9 4-7 24, Isabel Truemper 1 0-0 3, Sammy Mia 10 0-0 20, Jayla Johnson, 2 3-5 7, Sydney Mitvalsky 2 0-0 4, Skyla Atkins 0 0-0 0, Brittany Postma 0 1-2 1, Totals 25 11-18 64.

C.R. KENNEDY (55):

Hailey Dolphin 9 10-14 29, Madison Friauf 1 0-0 2, Olivia Hellweg 4 2-3 10, Ashley Vis 1 0-0 3, Auddie Alepra 3 0-0 6, Camryn Ray 0 2-2 2, Lauryn Vaske 0 0-0 0, Sadie Powell 0 3-4 3, Tessa Steffen 0 0-0 0, Laila Sain 0 0-0 0, Totals 18 17-23 55.

C.R. Washington 14 14 17 19—64

C.R. Kennedy 10 17 7 21—55

Halftime — Washington, 28-27. Three-point goals — Washington 3 (Eniola 2, Truemper 1), Kennedy 2 (Dolphin, Vis). Total fouls — Washington 16, Kennedy 16. Fouled out —

None.

l Comments: douglas.miles@thegazette.com