Great first half enough to propel Wash girls past Jeff

CEDAR RAPIDS – Frank Howell stood up and clapped his hands repeatedly.

'Great half!” he shouted to his girls, as he gave them high fives walking off the court. 'Great half!”

The best half Cedar Rapids Washington has played this girls' basketball season.

'My vision of how I want us to play was how we played the first half,” Howell said, after his team's 57-40 win over Cedar Rapids Jefferson at the Warriors gym.

That would basically be to go, go, go, go. The Warriors caused turnovers with their press, converted them into points, and were aggressive in the half court offensively.

Jefferson didn't know what happened. It was a 40-19 game at halftime, and game over.

Washington scored just 17 points in the second half, but really only needed one.

'We came out with energy,” said jitterbug Washington point guard Joniqua Clark. 'Our first possession, there were numerous passes before someone shot the ball. We had good shot selection. It's just amazing when you are playing like that. It gives you so much energy. It makes you want to go even harder.”

'We played really well in the first half,” said Washington's Kandis O'Donnell. 'We were on them and didn't back down. We kept attacking.”

The funny thing was Washington (8-6) didn't have anyone hit double figures in scoring in the game. Clark, Kandis O'Donnell, Anne Vissser and sophomore post Emily Oler had eight points each.

But Howell changes players like hockey coaches, and it seemed like everyone did something. Jefferson (6-9) played hard the second half, and cut its deficit to as few as 14 points.

Center Kennedy Dighton had 15 points and a whopping 17 rebounds for the J-Hawks.

'I've got to give (Jefferson) a lot of credit because I'm thinking that we're throwing more bodies at them, and that might have a cumulative affect in the second half,” Howell. 'But they cut into our lead … Fortunately we played such a high level of basketball in the first half, they couldn't catch us.”

------------------

AT C.R. WASHINGTON

C.R. JEFFERSON (40): Sparkle Melton 2-4 0-1 4, Kennedy Dighton 7-19 0-0 15, Kylie Wise 1-9 3-4 6, Samantha Kitterman 3-8 2-2 8, Avery Guy 0-5, 2-3 2, Mariah Robinson 2-6 1-2 5, Emma Rolwes 0-1 0-0 0, Cassandra Veglahn 0-0 0-0 0, Emily O'Brien 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 15-52 8-12 40.

C.R. WASHINGTON (57): Jessica Puk 2-3 1-2 7, Kandis O'Donnell 4-9 0-0 8, Anne Visser 4-7 0-1 8, Joniqua Clark 3-7 2-2 8, Alexandra Semrau 0-6 0-0 0, Daris Corey 0-3 0-0 0, Payton Bruner 3-5 0-0 6, Courtney Squires 2-7 0-0 5, Lillian Hartman 1-2 0-0 2, Brittany Cullen 0-1 0-0 0, Emily Oler 3-5 2-4 8, Brittany Hoeger 0-4 0-0 0, Jayla Pledge-Johnson 2-2 1-2 5, Alanna Arrington 0-1 0-0 0, Melanie Hoeger 0-0 0-0 0, Perisa Levy 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-62 6-11 57.

Halftime – Washington 40, Jefferson 19. 3-point goals – Jefferson 2-11 (Dighton 1-4, Wise 1-4, Kitterman 0-1, Guy 0-1, Robinson 0-1, Rolwes 0-1), Washington 3-15 (Puk 2-2, O'Donnell 0-1, Visser 0-2, Clark 0-1, Semrau 0-3, Bruner 0-1, Squires 1-4, B. Hoeger 0-1). Rebounds – Jefferson 39 (Dighton 17), Washington 37 (O'Donnell 9). Total fouls – Jefferson 11, Washington 16. Fouled out – None. Turnovers – Jefferson 21, Washington 13.

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