Kennedy Boys Basketball

Balanced Cougars handle East

WATERLOO - Cedar Rapids Kennedy used a balanced offense, led by Brendon Manning's 14 points, to defeat Waterloo East, 73-63, on Tuesday night.

Four other Cougars, Bryton Heisler (13), Zach Daniels (11), Drake Brewster (11) and Cole Murdock (10). scored in double figures. Kennedy is now 11-5 overall, 8-3 in MVC play.

Leighton Nash paced East (1-15, 0-11) with 17 points.

KENNEDY (73): Daniels 2 5-6 11, Heisler 5 3-4 13, Murdock 3 2-2 10, Gardner 2 2-2 6, Techau 0 0-0 0 Diggins 3 0-0 8, Brewster 5 1-2 11, Manning 5 4-9 14, Gisling 0 0-0 0. Totals: 25 17-25 73.

WATERLOO EAST (63): Clark 1 0-0 3, Gaffeny  3 0-0 6, Sales 0 2-2 2, O. Bradford 3 0-0 9, Todd 6 0-1 14, Sanders 2 0-0 4, Williams 1 0-0 2, Terry 2 0-0 4, Matlock 0 0-0 0, Campbell 1 0-0 2, Muhammad 0 0-0 0, Nash 6 5-9 17, Garrey 0 0-0 0. Totals: 25 7-12 63

Halftime: Kennedy 36, Waterloo East 29. 3-point goals: Kennedy 6 (Daniels 2, Murdock 2, Diggins 2). East 6 (Clark, Bradford 3, Todd 2).

Cougars fall short against No.1 Trojans

The Kennedy Cougars slowed Iowa City West down a little, got them in foul trouble and made them sweat at the Kennedy gym Friday night.

The top-ranked Trojans won anyway, 64-54, with a balanced attack that saw all five starters score in double figures.

Coach Steve Bergman's club has won three Class 4A state titles in a row and could be heading for a fourth this season. The Trojans boast a phenomenal record of 90-3 the past four years and are standing at 15-0 this season and 11-0 in the Mississippi Valley Conference.

Kennedy (10-5, 7-3) pulled within 45-42 early in the fourth quarter and drew within 54-50 midway through the stanza, but the smaller Cougars were not able to finish the job.

"Too many lows. That's kind of been the story of our season," said Kennedy Coach Jon McKowen.

"There's times every single game where we play the way we feel we can play, but then we have too many down times. You can't play 16-minute games. I don't care who you're playing.

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Kennedy boys rally to beat Rams 78-74

DUBUQUE – The Kennedy boys basketball team rallied with a 24-13 run in the third quarter and held on to beat Dubuque Senior, 78-74, Tuesday at Senior.

The Rams led 41-33 at halftime before the Cougars fought back.

Zach Daniels sank six 3-point goals and finished with 24 points for Kennedy (10-4). Brendon Manning scored 17 points and Drake Brewster added 12.

Luke McDonnell scored 26 points with 16 rebounds for the Rams (7-6). Justin Blackman had 21 points and Jayden Davis added 18.

KENNEDY (78): Daniels 7 4-5 24, Heisler 3 0-0 7, Murdock 3 0-0 7, Gardner 2 1-2 5, Techau 0 0-0 0, Diggins 1 0-0 3, Brewster 3 4-4 12, Manning 8 0-0 17, Girling 0 3-4 3. Totals 27 12-15 78.

DUBUQUE SENIOR (74): Masic 1 0-0 2, Hermsen 0 3-4 3, Psihoyos 1 0-0 2, Blackman 8 0-0 21, Humpal-Griffin 1 0-0 2, Davis 7 2-4 18, McDonnell 10 6-6 26. Totals 27 11-14 74.

Halftime – Dubuque Senior 41, Kennedy 33. 3-point goals – Kennedy 12 (Daniels 6, Brewster 2, Heisler, Murdock, Diggins, Manning), Dubuque Senior 7 (Blackman 5, Davis 2).

Daniels wins Metro Spotlight Award

edar Rapids Kennedy senior Zach Daniels is the winner of the Metro Spotlight Award for high school boys this week, the Metro Sports Report announced Sunday.

Daniels has made a name for himself at Kennedy as an elite all-state baseball player, but he's also a successful basketball player for the Cougars and riding an impressive hot streak.

Daniels scored 22 points and had eight steals in a 77-64 loss at Johnston Tuesday night, then he came back three nights later and scored 22 points with six 3-pointers in a clutch 74-61 victory at Cedar Falls Friday.

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