Limited minutes, big production for Kennedy’s Manning

CEDAR RAPIDS - His coach wondered how much better a night it could have been.

Brendon Manning has few regrets, mind you. That's the way he should feel.

He dunked on the very first possession, scored 20 points and pulled down a bunch of rebounds. Most importantly, his Cedar Rapids Kennedy Cougars steamrolled Cedar Falls, 71-55, in a Class 4A substate semifinal.

It's all good. That he was in constant foul trouble and eventually fouled out ... meh, no biggie.

'I didn't have a very good last regular-season game, so my confidence wasn't really that high,” Manning said. 'I've just been getting into the gym and getting shots up. Coach has been kind of trying to boost my confidence. It showed up tonight.”

Kennedy boss Jon McKowen figured his 6-foot-4 senior forward played about 16 minutes, if that. Such destruction in a limited time.

'I wish he would have played a whole game,” McKowen said. 'Just looking at the scorebook, I can't believe he had 20 in the short amount of time that he played. But his teammates were great because we were able to ride with him on the bench, with the foul trouble he did have.”

Kennedy (17-5) played with a lot of energy on both sides of the ball, using a 17-6 second-quarter edge to run away and hide from Cedar Falls (15-8). The back cut was a major offensive staple in the half court and beautiful to watch.

'I thought we played really well,” said Kennedy's Bryton Heisler, who added 17 points. 'Our defense wasn't as good in the first half as it was in the second half. But we were attacking the ball in the second half. Offensively we were making the right cuts, people with the ball were finding the right cutters. We had good ball movement.”

'All season, we've cut to the right spots, but we cut with a purpose tonight,” McKowen said. 'Having that first-round bye and getting a couple extra days allowed us to polish a few things. That was one of them. That was definitely one of them. Getting to the rim at the right time and doing it at the right speed.”

It's Kennedy and Linn-Mar (18-4) in a substate final Tuesday night at the U.S. Cellular Center that promises to be entertaining to watch. These are similar teams, ones that love to run and fire the 3.

Linn-Mar won in the regular season, 74-61.

'Tuesday's going to be a fun night,” McKowen said.

Kennedy shot a blistering 61 percent in the second half Friday night, building a 21-point lead after three quarters. Cedar Falls whittle its deficit to 13 late, but that was all.

Freshman Trey LaBeaux had a team-high 16 points for the Tigers. Tra'Von Fagan added 15.

'It was a good team effort tonight,” Manning said.

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AT C.R. KENNEDY

CEDAR FALLS (55): Tra'Von Fagan 7-11 1-1 15, Trey LaBeaux 6-10 4-5 16, Keeon Johnson 4-12 0-0 9, Durrell Jackson 3-6 2-2 9, A.J. Green 2-9 2-2 6, Denison Harrington 0-0 0-0 0, Ben Fienup 0-3 0-0 0, Jacob Leisinger 0-1 0-0 0, Taylen Alexander 0-2 0-0 0, Michael Abbas 0-0 0-0 0, Isaiah Barney 0-0 0-0 0, Tyler Forrero 0-0 0-0 0, Sam Pierce 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-54 9-10 55.

C.R. KENNEDY (71): Bryton Heisler 8-12 1-1 17, Brendon Manning 7-10 5-9 20, Derick Diggins 2-5 2-2 6, Cole Murdock 3-9 0-0 8, Zach Daniels 2-6 2-2 7, Derrick Girling 0-0 0-0 0, Drake Brewster 1-4 2-3 4, Matt Gardner 2-2 3-4 7, Michael Bisenius 0-0 0-0 0, Curtis Odom 0-0 0-0 0, Max Techau 1-1 0-0 2, Jacob Ross 0-0 0-0 0, Terrence Hall 0-0 0-0 0, Adam Wall 0-0 0-0 0, Elija Eberle 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-49 15-21 71.

Halftime - Kennedy 35, Cedar Falls 22. 3-point goals - Cedar Falls 2-16 (Fagan 0-1, Johnson 1-6, Jackson 1-4, Green 0-4, Alexander 0-1), Kennedy 4-13 (Heisler 0-1, Manning 1-1, Diggins 0-1, Murdock 2-6, Daniels 1-4). Rebounds - Cedar Falls 29 (Fagan 11), Kennedy 30 (Manning 7). Total fouls - Cedar Falls 17, Kennedy 13. Fouled out - Manning. Turnovers - Cedar Falls 16, Kennedy 10.

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