Kennedy Boys Basketball

Williams, Wills lift Wash by Cougars

New Cedar Rapids Washington coach Justin Decker thought Laveechie Williams would miss the first few weeks of the basketball season after Williams broke his nose in early November before practice began.

Decker may have underestimated the 6-foot-5 senior a little bit.

Williams slapped a mask on his face for the season opener and has been a major force with the Warriors, averaging a double-double with 13.8 points and 10.8 rebounds per game.

The Masked Marvel did it again Tuesday night.

Williams scored 15 points and snared 11 rebounds with fierce work off the backboards to help Washington hold off the Kennedy Cougars, 55-51, in a Mississippi Valley Conference game at the Washington gym.

Williams is making an early bid for all-conference honors despite having limited vision due to the mask. "My vision is so bad," he said. "When I look to my left or right, I can't even see."

He sees everything in front of him, however, and was a big reason the Warriors squared their records at 2-2 overall and 1-1 in the MVC.

Read more...

Diggins wins Metro Spotlight Award

Derrick Diggins of Cedar Rapids Kennedy is the winner of the Metro Spotlight Award for high school boys this week, the Metro Sports Report announced Sunday.

Diggins, just a 15-year-old sophomore, is a key member of the Kennedy basketball team and a rising star in the Mississippi Valley Conference.

Diggins scored 20 points in a victory at Spirit Lake last Saturday and poured in a career-high 25 points in a victory at Xavier Friday night. He is averaging 16.5 points and has scored in double figures in all four of Kennedy's games.

Read more...

Kennedy boys fall to Little Cyclones

AMES - The Cedar Rapids Kennedy boys basketball team scored only four points in the second quarter Saturday and lost to the Ames Little Cyclones, 53-43, in Ames.

Drake Brewster led Kennedy with 19 points. Derrick Diggins had 10 points for the Cougars (2-2).

Eric Steyer led Ames with 12 points. Michael Agbaje scored 10 points and Chuol Chuol grabbed nine rebounds for the Little Cyclones (3-1).

KENNEDY (43): Brewster 8 2-3 19, Gardner 1 4-4 6, Diggins 4 2-4 10, Girling 0 2-2 2, Schultejans 0 2-2 2, Duehr 0 0-1 0, Wall 1 0-2 2, Berst 1 0-0 2. Totals 15 12-16 43.

AMES (53): Chuol 3 2-4 8, Mumm 0 1-2 1, Stohlmeyer 1 0-0 3, Agbaje 3 4-5 10, Shane 2 5-6 9, Evans 0 5-6 5, Steyer 4 2-2 13, Downs 2 0-0 4. Totals 15 19-25 53.

Halftime - Ames 29, Kennedy 15. 3-point goals - Kennedy 1 (Brewster 1), Ames 4 (Steyer 3, Stohlmeyer 1).

Diggins stars as Cougars top Saints

Derrick Diggins was invited to practice with the Kennedy varsity basketball team last year as a freshman during the holiday break to give the Cougars an extra body for their workouts and drills.

He seized the opportunity, stayed with the varsity the rest of the season and has returned this year as a budding superstar.

Diggins poured in 25 points Friday night with 3-pointers and dazzling drives to the basket as Kennedy topped Xavier, 62-46, in a Mississippi Valley Conference game at Xavier.

Diggins, 15, averaged 5.8 points last season as a ninth grader and he's already averaging a robust 18.7 points this year after three games.

"He had a specatular performance," Xavier coach Ryan Luehrsmann said. "We didn't have an answer for him. We couldn't defend him man-to-man.

"He's got a bright future," Luehrsmann said. "If he keeps working on things, he's going to have a great high school career and he'll be somebody who can play at the next level."

Read more...