It’s all Kennedy this time

CEDAR RAPIDS – It felt like a year ago since these teams first played, at least to the Kennedy Cougars.

'Yeah, it seemed like a long time,” guard Sydney Hayden said, after her team out and out dismantled Cedar Rapids Washington, 67-35, Friday night on Hall of Fame Night at Washington. 'We wanted to bring it to them this time.”

Mission accomplished there. You've got revenge, and then there's what the Class 5A eighth-ranked Cougars served up here.

Hayden had 16 points, Steph Botkin 15 and Lela Sellers 14 in a well-balanced offense. Kennedy doubled up Washington on rebounds, which tells you about the defensive end of the floor.

Before you could blink, it was a double-digit lead for the Cougars, and it only got bigger and bigger. Hard to believe Wash won the first encounter between these teams in mid-December.

This game was the antithesis.

'The game at our place, they played well,” Kennedy Coach Tony Vis said. 'We didn't shoot it well, and we had trouble with fouls, too. Tonight, we jumped on them early. I thought getting out of the gate was so key for us to build confidence against their pressure. Seeing the ball go through the hoop always helps as well.”

It's not often you see two players record double-doubles, but such was Kennedy's dominance.

Botkin had 10 rebounds to go with her point total. Sellers was the most active person on the floor, posting a dozen boards.

'I feel like I've started to get my game together,” the athletic 6-foot junior said. 'Instead of like having just a great game defensively or just a great night of offense, I'm starting to put them together.”

Washington (11-8) couldn't cope with Botkin and Sellers inside, or Hayden's 3-point shooting. She went 3 of 5 from distance.

Kennedy improved to 13-5.

'I just think from the last time we played, we have improved a lot,” Hayden said. 'The first time, we were just kind of out of our game. This time, we came ready to play.”

Kandis O'Donnell led Washington with nine points and seven rebounds. The Warriors shot just 27 percent, including 1 of 14 from the arc.

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AT C.R. WASHINGTON

C.R. KENNEDY (67): Abigail Hellweg 2-3 0-0 4, Lela Sellers 6-15 2-4 14, Stephanie Botkins 6-13 3-4 15, Sydney Hayden 4-8 5-6 16, Linden Runels 1-1 0-0 3, Katelyn Dye 2-8 1-2 5, Hailey Dolphin 2-6 1-2 6, Brinley Milbrath 1-1 1-4 3, Ashley Hamilton 0-0 0-0 0, Olivia Hellweg 0-0 0-0 0, Sydney Green 0-1 0-0 0, Alana Steele 0-0 0-0 0, Alyssa Dunham 0-0 1-2 1, Paige Timmerman 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-55 14-24 67.

C.R. WASHINGTON (35): Courtney Squires 3-6 0-0 6, Kandis O'Donnell 4-10 1-1 9, Anne Visser 2-7 2-2 7, Allie Semrau 0-2 0-3 0, Joniqua Clark 3-10 0-0 6, Daris Corey 0-4 0-0 0, Jessi Puk 1-4 0-0 2, Lily Hartman 0-1 0-0 0, Payton Bruner 0-1 3-4 3, Brittany Cullen 0-0 0-0 0, Emily Oler 0-2 2-2 2, Jayla Johnson 0-0 0-0 0, Melanie Hoeger 0-0 0-0 0, Alanna Arrington 0-1 0-0 0, Brittany Hoeger 0-0 0-0 0, Perisa Levy 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 13-48 9-12 35.

Halftime – Kennedy 34, Washington 18. 3-point goals – Kennedy 5-14 (A. Hellweg 0-1, Botkin 0-4, Hayden 3-5, Runels 1-1, Dye 0-2, Dolphin 1-1), Washington 1-14 (Squires 0-1, O'Donnell 0-1, Visser 1-5, Semrau 0-2, Clark 0-4, Puk 0-1). Rebounds – Kennedy 48 (Sellers 12), Washington 24 (O'Donnell 7). Total fouls – Kennedy 11, Washington 18. Fouled out – None. Turnovers – Kennedy 16, Washington 16.

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