Late run lets No. 3 West escape Kennedy

CEDAR RAPIDS -- For 27 minutes, Cedar Rapids Kennedy lived a Senior Night dream.The Cougars played Class 4A third-ranked Iowa City West toe to toe most of the way before the Women of Troy closed with an 11-1 run and escaped, 62-53, in a Mississippi Valley Conference girls' basketball game Tuesday night at Kennedy High School."We finally adjusted and made a run," said West's Ally Disterhoft. "Better late than never."West (18-1, 14-1) won its 11th straight game, but had to sweat for it. Kennedy (6-13, 5-10) went back-and-forth with the Women of Troy and took a 52-51 lead on Kaylese Johnson's layup with 5 minutes to go."I thought we were going to pull it off," said Olivia Meier, one of 11 Kennedy seniors honored before the game. "We played (over our heads), but we came up a little short."Paige Yoder and McKenzie Piper drilled back-to-back 3-pointers to give West a 57-52 lead with 4:06 left, and for the first time all night, the Cougars didn't have an answer.Disterhoft scored 20 points and Piper added 19 for the Women of Troy, who have run away with the MVC Valley Division crown, their first MVC title since 1979.West crashed the offensive boards hard in the fourth quarter, giving itself several second and third opportunities."We knew it was getting down to crunch time, and all the girls went hard to the boards at the end of the game. We figured it was time to step up," Disterhoft said.Kennedy Coach Dennis Roloff remained at 298 wins in his 19 years at the school. The Cougars have three winnable games coming up; they are at Cedar Rapids Jefferson on Friday, host Marion on Saturday, then play at Cedar Rapids Prairie in a Class 4A regional quarterfinal next Wednesday."We all feel really good about this game, and I think it will help us down the stretch," said Meier, who posted 14 points and 10 rebounds.Courtney Strait added 13 points for Kennedy."We were close," Roloff said. "Just a few little things kept us from winning the game, like not boxing out and getting a rebound here and there. The kids gave everything they had, and I thought we played very well."West jumped to a 16-7 lead after a quarter and extended the margin to 11 early in the second period. But the Cougars marched back with a shocking 14-2 run and took a 25-24 lead on Meier's drive with 1:15 left in the half.The Women of Troy scored seven straight points in a 35-second span, and led 31-28 at intermission. Kennedy scored the final six points of the third quarter to take a 45-44 lead, then the lead changed hands five times in the fourth quarter before West pulled away.Tatum Klein hit a 3-pointer to put West ahead 48-47, then converted a three-point play to give the Women of Troy a 51-50 edge."She was huge for us," said West Coach B.J. Mayer. "She seemed to get to every loose ball for us."I love our team. If one of the kids is a little off, somebody else picks it up for them."

AT C.R. KENNEDY

IOWA CITY WEST (62): Ally Disterhoft 7-8 3-5 20, Brianna Sturtz 2-6 0-2 4, Shelly Stumpff 1-9 0-0 2, Jessica Shull 1-7 0-2 3, McKenzie Piper 7-12 4-6 19, Shahana Williams 1-2 0-1 2, Tatum Klein 2-4 2-3 7, Paige Yoder 2-5 0-0 5, Kelly Fliehler 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-53 9-19 62.

C.R. KENNEDY (53): Olivia Meier 6-9 1-2 14, Courtney Strait 4-9 2-2 13, Kassi Nunnikhoven 1-5 4-4 6, Shauna Happel 3-7 0-1 7, Kali Hildebrand 1-1 0-0 2, Kaylese Johnson 2-8 1-2 5, Valerie Ross 1-1 0-0 2, Kristen Huebsch 0-1 0-0 0, Ashley Schlueter 0-1 0-0 0, Katherine Schulz 0-2 0-0 0, Mariah Simmons 2-6 0-0 4, Kim Muench 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-50 8-11 53.

Halftime: West 31, Kennedy 28.

3-point goals: West 7-20 (Disterhoft 3-3, Sturtz 0-4, Stumpff 0-1, Shull 1-1, Piper 1-4, Williams 0-1, Klein 1-3, Yoder 1-3), Kennedy 5-15 (Meier 1-2, Strait 3-4, Nunnikhoven 0-1, Happel 1-2, Johnson 0-4, Schlueter 0-1, Simmons 0-1).

Team fouls: West 13, Kennedy 18.

Fouled out: Nunnikhoven.

Rebounds: West 38 (Disterhoft, Piper 7), Kennedy 32 (Meier 10).

Assists: West 10 (Disterhoft, Sturtz 2), Kennedy 8 (three with 2).

Steals: West 11 (Klein 3), Kennedy 12 (three with 2).

Turnovers: West 19, Kennedy 19.