The Kennedy coaching staff made a critical defensive adjustment at halftime that proved to be the difference in their 63-54 victory over Waterloo West Friday night at Kennedy.

Waterloo forward Lincoln Conrey, who led all scorers with 28 points, had 17 points at halftime and Kennedy decided to try to deny him the ball the whole second half and it proved to be the difference in the game. Primary responsibility for playing Conrey went to J.B. Bil in the second half with help from everyone else.

“Coach (Jon) McKowen wanted me to be really aggressive and not let him touch the ball,” said Bil. “I would like to be that guy that comes in and shuts down the other team’s leading scorer.”

Kennedy raised its overall record to 2-0 in the Mississippi Valley Conference opener.

“Bil took pride in stopping Conrey and he made a real difference when he was in there on him in the second half,” said McKowen. “Conrey is really tough to stop.”

Zach Daniels hit a midcourt 3-pointer at the buzzer ending the first half, giving the Cougars a 34-32 halftime lead. John Bardsley came out in the second half and scored Kennedy’s first eight points and finished with 13.

“I made the cuts and the guys got me the ball,” said Bardsley. “I knocked down a couple of shots and hit free throws. It kind of got us off to a quick start in the second half.”

Kennedy built an eight-point lead at 51-43 at the end of the third quarter and then relied on A.J. Carter, who finished the night with 15 points, to manage the game through the fourth quarter and to the victory.

“In tight situations I just know that I can handle the pressure and distribute the ball to my teammates,” said Carter. “Bardsley had the hot hand in the third quarter and I ran the offense in the fourth.”

McKowen liked the way his point guard performed.

“Carter has been learning every day and took a huge step forward tonight,” said McKowen. “His game is about ready to take off.

“In the end of the first half we sort of let them back in the game,” said McKowen. “Everybody needs to be active on defense and in the second half we were. We need to make sure that we all stay active for all 32 minutes.

“We are getting better every day and we had a great week of practice. It is critically important that we continue to get better with each game.”

Kennedy’s Derek Jacobus has been sidelined until after the holidays due to a kidney ailment and was missed in the Cougar rotation.

Kennedy travels to Des Moines Hoover Saturday night.

WATERLOO WEST (54): Conrey 8 8-13 28, Campbell 3 0-2 6, Landers 2 2-4 6, Puk 1 0-1 2, Meyer 1 2-5 4, Samardzic 0 0-0 0, Funchess 3 0-0 8, Schultz 0 0-0 0, Sehic 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 12-25 54.

KENNEDY (63): Daniels 3 0-1 8, Carter 6 3-7 15, Bardsley 4 4-6 13, Murdock 1 1-2 4, Heitland 1 5-6 7, Holzer 0 0-0 0, Bil 4 0-2 8, Heisler 2 1-2 6, Buck 1 0-0 2. Totals 22 14-26 63.

Halftime – Kennedy 34, Waterloo West 32. 3-point goals – Waterloo West 6 (Conrey 4, Funchess 2), Kennedy 5 (Daniels 2, Bardsley 1, Murdock 1, Heisler 1). Fouled out - Puk. Technical foul - Kennedy bench.