CLINTON — As Marlon Stewart's potential game-tying 3-point shot at the end of regulation missed everything, Class 4A third-ranked North Scott again was denied a trip to the state tournament, falling to Cedar Rapids Kennedy 46-43 in the substate final at Yourd Gymnasium.

"I just shot the ball, hoped it would go in and it didn't go in," Stewart said. "That was it ... it's not a good feeling."

The junior-heavy Lancers (21-2) had steamrolled over the majority of their competition all year as North Scott looked to get back to the state tournament for the first time since 2003. The Cougars' aggressive zone-man combination defense had other plans, forcing 18 turnovers in the win.

"We were just playing our normal defense and they haven't seen it this year," said Cougars junior guard Zachary Daniels, who had a team-high 10 points. "It was tough for them to play against it because no one in their conference has shown that type of defense before."

The Lancers came in averaging 66.5 points per game but were held to seven in the first quarter. The Lancers forced six turnovers in the first quarter but could not take advantage, shooting just 3 for 11 (27 percent) from the field as they led 7-5 after the first quarter. The Lancers would only shoot 16-for-43 (37 percent) for the game.

"We missed a lot of bunnies early that normally we make," Lancer coach Shamus Budde said. "Maybe it's a different outcome, who knows? But we missed a lot of shots early and we just didn't get going."

The Cougars (18-5) outscored the Lancers 12-9 in the second quarter with all 12 points coming off of 4-of-7 3-point shooting to take a 17-16 lead at halftime.

"That's not the way you draw it up," Kennedy coach Jon McKowen said. "North Scott does a great job of packing it on the back side and we didn't get it side-to-side enough to get it out. So we were going to have to make threes, and we're good shooters."

The Lancers came out in the third quarter and opened up a 27-19 lead with 4:09 left in the frame thanks to Stewart and Cortez Seales but would not score again the rest of the quarter, turning the ball over five straight times as the Cougars put together a 13-0 run to take a 32-27 lead heading into the third quarter.

"As you can see, you can't take your foot off the pedal," said Seales, who had a game-high 18 points and 11 rebounds. "You've got to keep going up, and we just didn't do that tonight."

The Lancers clawed their way back in the fourth quarter thanks to poor free-throw shooting from Kennedy. Trailing 45-43 with 7.2 seconds left, the Lancers fouled A.J. Carter, Kennedy's leading scorer on the season. Carter's back-end miss was rebounded by Seales, who fed it to Stewart for the potential game-tying shot that fell short.

"I was really confident at first, but as I let it go I knew it was off the back," said Carter, who had eight points. "As he (Stewart) was dribbling down the court, I thought, 'Don't let them shoot the three, let them take it all they way.' He ended up taking a contested shot and it fell short."

The Cougars now face Sioux City North in the Class 4A quarterfinals next week Wednesday while the Lancers — who return all five starters next year — head into another offseason with the state tournament as the goal.

"We've just got to remember and get back in the gym," Seales said. "It just opened our eyes up a little bit more. Losing in this game for some of the new guys, hopefully they come back more hungry."