Josiah Coleman and Taylor Olson are star players for their high school basketball teams and friendly rivals.

Next season they could be college teammates at Coppin State University if things fall into place.

Coleman got the best of his buddy Friday night as No. 10 Kennedy drubbed Jefferson, 55-39, in a Mississippi Valley Conference game that featured a monster dunk by Coleman.

Coleman collected 15 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists for the Cougars (14-5, 9-5), while Olson scored 14 points and played his normally strong floor game for the J-Hawks (12-7, 8-6).

Coppin State assistant coach Jay Dull, a native Iowan, sat in the stands and enjoyed the show. Coppin State has offered Coleman a scholarship and is recruiting Olson as well.

Coleman, a smooth 6-foot-7 swingman, and Olson, a polished 6-1 point guard, have played together on the Iowa Barnstormers AAU team for several years and are good friends who are thinking about playing on the same team in college.

"I'd like to," Coleman said. "I like him. We're pretty close. We're tight."

Coppin State is located in Maryland, and Olson likes the idea of heading to the East Coast with a good buddy like Coleman.

"Yeah, we've been talking about that," Olson said. "We've talked about going to the same school and what it would be like. That would be fun."

Coleman also has offers from Wyoming and Sacramento State, but said he probably won't decide until this spring. Olson does not have any Division I offers, but is hopeful.

Zach Burnham, a 6-7 forward from Davenport Central, has already committed to Coppin State. Burnham also played for the Barnstormers with Coleman and Olson.

"We're close, too," Olson said. "All three of us text each other and stuff like that."

As far as Friday's game goes, it wasn't much of a game from Jefferson's point of view. Kennedy played flawlessly in the first half and grabbed a 23-4 lead early in the second quarter.

"I thought our kids came out with a great mindset, and I thought we came out and established what we wanted to do early," Kennedy Coach Bob Fontana said. "They followed the game plan almost to a tee in the first half.

"I thought our defense was excellent, I thought we rebounded pretty well and we executed real well. I thought that was important against a quality team that plays good defense themselves."

Kennedy opened a 21-point gap in the first half and led 31-12 at intermission. Jefferson pulled within 13 points at 44-31 late in the third quarter on a three-point play by Olson, but that was as close as it ever got.

Jefferson played without starting forward Alec Saunders (sprained ankle) and reserve guard Jacob Olson (bronchitis). Kennedy was missing reserve guard Patrick Martin (concussion), but the Cougars had the deeper club and more firepower than the J-Hawks.

"Give Kennedy credit," Jefferson Coach Stu Ordman said. "They totally took us out of our offense in the first half. They played very good team man-to-man."

Olson was not happy with the way his team played. The J-Hawks made only one field goal in the first quarter and had only two more buckets in the second period.

"I thought at the beginning we came out with no energy at all," Olson said. "We didn't really play how we should play. We didn't play our game from the beginning.

"It didn't even seem like we wanted to win at all."

The J-Hawks defeated the Cougars, 56-43, on Jan. 13 at Kennedy in their first meeting this year. Coleman and Kennedy point guard Darius Fuller did not play in that game while serving a 10-game suspension, but both of them played prominent roles Friday night.

Fuller scored eight points, helped run the show and contributed to a strong defensive effort against Olson. "He's doing a nice job of managing the game, just what you want out of a point guard," Fontana said.

Coleman was looking forward to Friday's game after missing the first encounter.

"Yeah, I was pretty jacked up," he said. "The first time we played them, me and Darius were out. So I wanted revenge.

"I took it hard when they beat us bad. I wish I could have been there for us."

Coleman poured in 13 points in the first half, personally outscoring Jefferson 13-12 in the opening 16 minutes. His highlight dunk came early in the third quarter when he soared above the rim for an offensive rebound and slammed it home with authority.

"The coaches make fun of me, because I don't dunk a lot," he said, smiling. "I had to shut them up a little bit."

Fontana liked the way Coleman played the entire game.

"He came ready to play tonight, and you know what? That's what he needs to do," Fontana said. "If we're going to go anywhere (in the postseason tournament), people like himself and some of our other seniors, they better show up ready to play every night."

Fontana is not reluctant to criticize his players in public when he feels they deserve it, but he had few complaints Friday. He acknowledged he was happy with his team's performance.

"Yes," he said. "I always tell them, happy but not satisfied. When we win the state championship, then I'll be satisfied."

Fontana liked the way his club responded after a tough one-point loss to top-ranked Iowa City West on Tuesday.

"They were upset with themselves that they lost that game," he said. "That shows a sign of maturity."

Fuller and Cody Bell scored eight points apiece for Kennedy in a balanced attack. The Cougars got a strong effort from the starting lineup of Coleman, Fuller, Bell, Elliott Christians and Trevor Heitland, and the Cougars also got a boost off the bench from Josh Jahlas, Alex Hayden, Ben Struss and Blake Murdock.

Justin Underwood scored nine points for Jefferson and Ky Kramer had seven points.

KENNEDY (55): Fuller 4 0-1 8, Heitland 2 3-5 7, Bell 4 0-0 8, Coleman 6 2-2 15, Christians 3 0-1 6, Jahlas 2 0-0 4, Hayden 2 0-0 5, Murdock 0 0-0 0, Struss 1 0-0 2, Carter 0 0-0 0, Oltmann 0 0-0 0, Rhoads 0 0-0 0, Koelling 0 0-0 0, Johnson 0 0-0 0. Totals 24 5-9 55.

JEFFERSON (39): Robinson 1 0-0 3, Olson 5 4-6 14, Kramer 2 1-2 7, Hemphill 1 2-2 5, Underwood 2 5-6 9, Goodell 0 0-0 0, Sullivan 0 1-2 1, Mueller 0 0-0 0, Taylor 0 0-0 0, Lafler 0 0-0 0. Totals 11 13-18 39.

Halftime - Kennedy 31, Jefferson 12. 3-point goals - Kennedy 2 (Coleman 1, Hayden 1), Jefferson 4 (Kramer 2, Robinson 1, Hemphill 1). Fouled out - Olson, Hemphill.