Metro Sports Report

Cougars clamp down on Saints, 72-44

The Kennedy Cougars played a tricky defense Friday night that combined the best principles of a matchup zone and a switching man-to-man.

It's a little hard to describe on paper, and it's even harder to solve on a basketball court.

"That's what everybody asks," said Kennedy guard Cole Murdock. "Is it a zone? Is it a man? That's what we like. Keep them guessing and they don't know what's coming next."

The Cougars smothered the Xavier Saints with their tricky defense Friday and rolled to an impressive 72-44 victory in a Mississippi Valley Conference game at the Kennedy gym.

"I'd probably call it more of a zone than a man," said Kennedy Coach Jon McKowen. "We just want to have general basketball knowledge, that the ball is a lot more important than anybody else on the floor.

Lions ride their defense by Warriors

In a rough and rugged game between two rivals, defense usually ends up deciding which team wins.

That was the case for Linn-Mar in its Mississippi Valley Conference opener Friday night against rival Washington at Linn-Mar.

The Lions used a harassing man-to-man defense and some strong foul shooting down the stretch from guards Nic Uhlir and Jordan Bohannon to down the Warriors, 53-41.

Linn-Mar Coach Chris Robertson couldn't say enough about the way his team defended against a much taller Washington squad.

"Them going and winning at Bettendorf (in Washington's season opener last Saturday) was impressive and I think that got our guys' attention," Robertson said. "I thought our guys were really locked in on defensive match-ups, making (Jared) Printy work hard coming off screens.

"They have a really nice inside-outside combination," continued the Lions' coach. "I just liked the way we locked down on them defensively."

Linn-Mar girls trim Warriors

In the end, it was a game of hot-potato.

After a mad scramble in the closing seconds with the ball changing hands several times, Linn-Mar sophomore Lexi Frese was the last one to touch it with 1.5 seconds to go.

She then sank one of two free throws and with it sank Washington’s last hope of a desperation homecourt comeback from a disastrous 15-point first quarter deficit.

“In my head, I knew they were not going to go away,” said Linn-Mar Coach Jaime (Printy) Brandt, cool as a cucumber after the 41-39 squeaker for her team. “I’m just proud of my girls for finishing it out.”

She admitted, though, that it was a real nail-biter right to the end.

Sellers leads Cougars by Saints

Kennedy girls basketball coach Tony Vis says he is glad that Lela Sellers “fell in his lap.” Friday night at Xavier High School, we found out why.

Sellers played all five positions and had a game-high 24 points, scoring eight points in the final three minutes, to help Class 5A 10th-ranked Kennedy win a 55-52 thriller 55-52 over Class 4A No. 13 Xavier in Mississippi Valley Conference action at Xavier.

Kennedy moves to 5-1 for the season. Xavier drops to 3-3.

Sellers, a versatile 6-footer, transferred from Minnesota this past summer when her father landed a new job in Cedar Rapids.

“It was a fun and intense game,” Sellers said. “Xavier came out aggressive and we had to come out and play well.”