Kennedy gives Sioux City North a run but falls, 75-65

DES MOINES – Consider where they came from.   The Kennedy Cougars were 11-10 last season, an ordinary team. They faced the prospect of dealing with a new coach, a new system, a new philosophy and few expectations externally.   So while a 75-65 loss to favored Sioux City North in a Class 4A state tournament quarterfinal Wednesday night at Wells Fargo Arena hurt bad, it shouldn't take away from what they achieved in 2013-14. That's achingly cliché, but true.   'Everyone came to practice ready to give it their best,' said Kennedy's Zach Daniels. 'No one took days off. It's a good feeling just to make it here because everyone doubted us this year. We passed everyone's expectations.'   But, oh, what could have been. Unafraid to play fast against a fast team, Kennedy (18-6) survived an awful beginning and had a lead early in the third quarter.   But North (22-3) notched a couple of defensive stops, which spurred it to a 7-0 run that gave it a 65-58 lead with 3:34 left. Kennedy couldn't overcome it.   'They got wide-open layups on fast breaks, we kind of fell apart with our press,' said Kennedy's Cole Murdock. 'We were right there, we just kind of fell apart at the end and let them pull away.'   'I thought the kids put themselves in a great position,' said Kennedy Coach Jon McKowen. 'They played hard for 32 minutes.'   The first few were pretty ugly, though. North scored the first 10 points and built as much as a 12-point lead in the first quarter. Kennedy finally settled in and used the 3-point acumen of guys like Daniels and Murdock to inch back into it.   It was a 36-30 game at the break. An A.J. Carter inside hoop late in the third quarter gave the Cougars their first lead.   He had a team-high 17 points.   'We started the game off (playing) too fast, and we ended the game too fast,' said Kennedy's Drew Heitland. 'You saw what happened. A 10-0 run to start off the game and something like a 10-0 run to end it.'   'If we just could have played a better offensive game down the stretch, it could have been a different story right now,' said Carter.   Daniels had four treys in a 16-point night, while Murdock added three triples. John Bardsley was huge off the bench with 11 points.   North outrebounded Kennedy by a 39-25 edge, which was an important statistic. Xavier Scarlett led the Stars, who returned everyone from their state tournament team of a year ago, with 19 points.   Leading scorer Daniel Tillo, a 6-foot-4 lefty shooter and Division I college prospect, finished with 17 points, affected by a turned ankle he suffered early in the first quarter. This was North's first state tourney win in 31 years.   "Experience means a lot," Tillo said. "And we've been in some close games this season. Just to step up there late, I'm proud of my players, proud of my team."   There should be a lot of folks proud of the other team, too.   'It started over the summer for us,' Carter said. 'We just decided as a group that we were really good and that we could make it to state. During the season, no one gave us a chance at all. We wanted to prove people wrong.'