Metro Sports Report

No. 4 KCC women roll by No. 10 DMACC

The Kirkwod women's basketball team was twice as good in the first half Wednesday night than it was in the second half, but the Eagles were still plenty good enough to handle DMACC at Johnson Hall.

The fourth-ranked Eagles poured in 48 points in the opening stanza and tailed off to 24 points in the second half, but it added up to a convincing 72-57 victory over the 10th-ranked Bears in a conference game.

Kirkwood (15-4, 2-0) opened a 25-point lead and cruised to victory.

"I thought we played really well," said Kirkwood Coach Kim Muhl. "The kids hit shots and played with a lot of energy."

Muhl was a little miffed by some of his team's quick shots in the final minutes with a big lead, but overall he was happy to get an important victory over a quality opponent.

"We outplayed them," he said. "We should have beat them by 30.

Sellers shines like an All-American

Lela Sellers remembers as a little girl her mom saying that someday she might be on the McDonald’s All-American high school basketball team.

“I thought then, ‘Oh, that’s only for really good players,’” she said Tuesday night after it was announced to Kennedy fans that she has indeed been nominated for the prestigious national honor.

The smooth and unselfish 6-foot senior turned in an All-American performance on her home court with 30 seemingly effortless points to lead the Class 5A second-ranked Cougars to a 68-49 romp over the young but gritty Prairie Hawks.

“My real dream has always been to play in the WNBA (pro league),” said Sellers, who turned down major Big 10 and SEC schools to play next year at smaller but perennial Division I NCAA tournament qualifier Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va.

In addition to tying her career-best on 12-of-17 shooting with her future college coach in the crowd, she also led her team with 11 rebounds and four assists.

Balanced Cougars knock off Prairie

Two boys basketball teams in desperate search of a victory clashed Tuesday night at Cedar Rapids Prairie.

The Kennedy Cougars found what they were looking for, but the Prairie Hawks are still searching.

Drake Brewster led a balanced attack with 18 points as the Cougars bounced the Hawks, 69-51, in a Mississippi Valley Conference game.

Kennedy entered the game with five losses in its last six games, while Prairie arrived for tipoff with a four-game losing streak and a bunch of lopsided defeats by 37, 24, 19 and 33 points.

The night ended with both clubs sitting at 4-6 overall and 2-4 in the conference, but the Cougars felt pretty good about themselves and the Hawks went back to the drawing board.

"I think we played a lot better than we have in recent games," said Brewster, a versatile 6-foot-5 junior. "One of our main goals with the struggles we've had was to have some fun.

"We started having some fun and started smiling a little bit and got more confidence about ourselves."

Murdock's dunk caps Mustangs victory

Blake Murdock established two new career highs for himself Monday night when the Mount Mercy Mustangs drubbed Lincoln Christian, 101-71, at the Hennessey Recreation Center.

Murdock reached a career high with 18 points, based on 6-for-10 shooting and a pair of 3-pointers. And the Kennedy grad set another career high for the most dunks he's ever had in a single game.

One.

The milestone happened when he stole a pass near mid-court, drove to the bucket and raised himself above the rim for a slam that brought his teammates out of their chairs in celebration.

He'd never dunked in a game before. Ever. Anywhere.

"That would be the first one, actually," he said, smiling. "I've had plenty in practice, but it feels really good to finally get one in a game and get one down."

Mount Mercy lists Murdock at 6-feet tall, but that's a slight exaggeration.