Dubuque Hempstead is a run-and-gun team, but the Kennedy boys wore the Mustangs down to a frazzle Friday night.

Highly energized on both offense and defense right from the get-go, the vastly improving Cougars put up 43 first-half points and sprinted to a convincing 68-52 victory on their home court.

For Kennedy (14-5), ranked ninth in Class 4A, it was the fourth win in a row and ninth out of the last 11.

Hempstead (13-6), ranked as high as fifth just weeks ago, dropped its fifth straight after a nine-game winning streak.

“This was definitely a step in the right direction for us,” said fundamental-minded Kennedy Coach Jon McKowen three days after a sluggish effort against Cedar Rapids Jefferson. “We had two great practices. We may not have been quite as clean and crisp as in practice, but it was pretty close.”

A tenacious defense that simply ran the Mustangs ragged was the key, he said.

“We’ve been scoring well since Christmas, and that hasn’t wavered,” McKowen pointed out. “But our defense has been giving up a lot of points. Tonight, we really clicked. We got some early steals that led to easy baskets.

“And I think we just wore them out.”

In a torrid-paced first quarter, the Cougars took a 19-16 lead with a 9-0 run on long 3-pointers from Zach Daniels and Cole Murdock and a conventional 3-point conversion from Brendon Manning.

They turned up the heat from there, capped by back-to-back 3-balls from the corner by fearless freshman Derrick Diggins to stretch the lead to 37-26 with two minutes left in the half.

“Our defense was just tremendous,” said the senior Manning, who led a balanced Kennedy attack with 17 points (and its only two free throws). “We’re not the biggest team. But we did a good job boxing out on rebounds.

“And we really rotated on defense and contested all their shots. Then we pushed the ball up the court.”

McKowen effectively rotates an interchangeable eight players in and out of the lineup. They maintained pressure defense and up-tempo offense while the Mustangs sagged.

"Every one of our guys plays unselfishly,” the coach noted. “We have good balance because each of them is more interested in the team score than in individual scoring.”

Senior guards Daniels and Murdock are especially adept at driving the lane and kicking off to open shooters.

“I really like the way we’re feeling right now,” said Murdock, who had 12 points. “Tonight we got them to throw a lot of balls out of bounds. And we sped up our offense and knocked down our threes.”

Murdock hit a pair from the behind the arc, as did Daniels, Diggins and Bryton Heisler.

Hempstead sharpshooter Robert Duax tickled the twine for 26 points with six 3-pointers. Burly 6-foot-7 center Avery Butler chipped in with 15, but only three others scored against the tough Cougar defense.

DUBUQUE HEMPSTEAD (52) – Ryan McDonough 1 2-2 4, Bailey Paulsen 2 0-0 5, Robert Duax 10 0-1 26, Avery Butler 5 5-7 15, Patrick Kelleher1 0-0 2, Saveion Williams 0 0-0 0, Lucas Duax 0-0 0 0, Caleb Rind fleisch 0 0-00, Ryan Weber 0 0-0 0, Travis Thiltgen 0 0-0 0, Tommy Bitter 0 0-0 0, Cole Muehring 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 7-10 52.

KENNEDY (68) – Zach Daniels 4 0-0 10, Bryton Heisler 3 0-0 8, Cole Murdock 5 0-0 12, Derrick Diggins 4 0-0 10, Brendon Manning 7 2-2 17, Matt Gardner 1 0-0 2, Derek Girling 1 0-0 3, Drake Brewster 3 0-0 6, Curtos Odum 00-0 0, Mike Bisenius 0 0-0 0, Rey‘ez Bell 0 0-0 0, Terrence Hall 0 0-0 0, Tyler Kadolph 0 0-0 0, Adam Wall 0 0-0 0, Max Techau 0 0-0 0. Totals 28 2-2 68.

Halftime – Kennedy 43, Hempstead 31. 3-point goals – Hempstead 7 (R. Duax 6, Paulsen 1), Kennedy 10 (Daniels 2, Murdock 2, Diggins 2, Heisler 2, Girling 1, Manning 1). Total fouls – Hempstead 8, Kennedy 16. Fouled out – Brewster.