Sat - 10 Dec
Written by Sher Jasperse
Geographically, they are likely the closest two ranked teams in the state.
Friday night the 42nd Street foes played the closest of games, dueling to a tie at the end of regulation before 4A No. 8 Xavier dominated in overtime to down No. 14 Kennedy, 55-47.
In the end, Xavier’s deep senior squad made the difference, scoring 13 of the team’s 14 points in the extra period. Annie Dale nailed 4-of-6 free throws and Kaitlyn Andersen 3-of-3.
Both teams had knocked off opponents with losing records on Tuesday night – Xavier by a whopping 57 points – but faced a sterner test in their Metro neighbors.
Kennedy won the first act, applying its trapping defense relentlessly to hold the Saints to seven points in the first period and nine in the second.
“The press rattled us a little bit at the beginning and then we had to figure out how to come out and adjust to that,” said Andersen, who paced her team with 17 points.
Trailing 21-16 at the break, the Saints pounced in the third period, outscoring the Cougars 17-6. Seniors Dale, Andersen, Emily Walvoord and Alex Bartz scored all but one of the team’s third-quarter points.
A field goal by Walvoord tied the game at 25. Andersen sank a 3-pointer a minute later to grab the Saints’ first lead of the game with 2 minutes remaining in the period. They led 33-27 at the end of three.
“They were a little embarrassed at their performance (in the first half)," Xavier Coach Tom Lilly said of his team’s second-half turnaround.
“When you have seven points and 16 turnovers and you know you’re better than that, sometimes it gets to your head. You’ve got to have a short memory and put it behind you. What it was was challenging the seniors to start playing like kids who’ve played many hours of basketball and not what we were seeing out on the floor.”
Kennedy’s senior leader, Courtney Strait, scored seven points in the fourth period to keep her team in the game, and the Cougars regained the lead, 40-39, on a bucket by Paige Hendrickson with 3:36 remaining.
Xavier’s Bartz hit a jumper to put her team up by a point. The Cougars’ Stephanie Botkin hit the first end of a one-and-one to tie the game at 41, and time ran out as both teams failed to convert in the final two minutes.
Andersen described the game as the Saints’ toughest challenge next to their November 29 loss to Dubuque Wahlert.
“We just knew after a rough start that we had to come out and have more poise and communicate more as a team and find the open girl. Once we got ahead we knew we had to settle down and take care of the ball and work on what we did in practice and trust our fundamentals.”
With his team’s third victory in a row in hand, Lilly could appreciate the value of a demanding outing.
“We have four games coming up that will be extremely challenging,” he said. “Tonight gave us an opportunity to experience overtime, an opportunity to experience shooting free throws under pressure, big moments, how to hold on to the ball and not turn it over. So we learned a lot of different things tonight.”
Kennedy’s Strait led all scorers with 22 points.
Bartz scored 12 points and Dale added nine for the Saints, who out rebounded the Cougars 35 to 16.
Kennedy hosts Dubuque Senior next Tuesday while Xavier travels to West Des Moines Dowling on Saturday.
KENNEDY (47): Meier 0 0-0 0, Strait 8 4-4 22, Simmons 2 0-0 4, Johnson 0 0-0 0, Botkin 3 2-3 8, Hendrickson 3 0-1 8, Holmes 1 0-2 2, Wagner 1 0-0 2, Zinser 0 1-2 0, Davis 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 7-12 47.
XAVIER (55): Armstrong 2 1-2 6, Dale 1 7-12 9, Andersen 6 3-3 17, Walvoord 1 4-6 6, Bartz 6 0-0 12, Noonan 0 0-2 0, Dickes 0 1-2 1, Boomgarden 0 0-0 0, Stulken 1 0-0 2, Bertsch 1 0-0 2, Winker 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 16-27 55.
Halftime - Xavier 16, Kennedy 21, 3-point goals – Kennedy 4 (Strait 2, Botkin 2), Xavier 3 (Andersen 2, Armstrong 1). Fouled out – Botkin.
