By Jeff Dahn
CEDAR RAPIDS — The big crowd gathered early, eager to grab the best available seats for what promised be a tight game between two of the state’s big-school best.
Quite unexpectedly, they had the opportunity to leave those seats early.
Class 4A third-ranked Linn-Mar built a 21-point halftime lead, kept its foot to the gas throughout the second half and whipped No. 2 Cedar Rapids Kennedy, 79-48, in front of a stunned sellout crowd of 2,180 fans packed in the Kennedy gym.
No one saw this coming, certainly not a 31-point blowout by one Mississippi Valley Conference division champion over the other. Linn-Mar (19-1, 15-0 MVC) extended its winning streak to 12, and Kennedy (19-1, 14-1) had its 19-game win streak snapped.
“It was a great environment and great team win overall,” Linn-Mar senior sensation Zach Bohannon said. “It was exciting coming out and seeing all the fan support … and it was just one of those things where we wanted to put on a show for everybody here.”
Bohannon was the top showman, scoring 25 points on 9-of-11 shooting from the floor and a 6-of-6 effort from the line. He led the Lions with seven rebounds, and he also had plenty of help.
Nate Hutcheson scored 13 points, a total matched by sophomore Shane Benton coming off the bench. Benton was 5 of 6 from the floor. Will Roth left the bench to score 10 points and grab five rebounds.
The Lions finished 26 of 44 from the field (59.1 percent) and ran roughshod over the defensively talented Cougars. Kennedy was 16 of 49 shooting (32.6 percent).
“We shot real well tonight,” Hutcheson said. “It’s real hard to guard a team that doesn’t miss much, and tonight we just didn’t miss much.”
The Lions jumped to a 17-8 first quarter lead and were up 26-15 after Kennedy’s Kyle Lamaak hit a free throw with 4:26 left in the second quarter. From that point, Linn-Mar finished the half on a 12-2 run to take a 38-17 lead at the break.
The Lions shot lights-out in the first half, draining 14 of 22 from the field, including 4 of 5 3-pointers. Zach Bohannon was 5 of 7 from the field and 5 of 5 from the line in the first half, good for 16 points.
The Cougars struggled, hitting just 5 of 21 from the floor with 10 turnovers.
“I thought we came out real loose and just playing and that was one of our goals,” Linn-Mar Coach Chris Robertson said. “I know it was a big game in a lot of ways, but the conference had already been decided and I just wanted our guys to play loose and use it as a steppingstone to get into the tournament.”
Linn-Mar led 62-36 after a foul-plagued third quarter and its final margin of victory was its biggest lead.
The Cougars could never get going offensively. Jake Hughes and Jake Heffernen led the Cougars with 11 points each, and Heffernen grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.
Kennedy hosts Dubuque Wahlert in its MVC regular season finale Friday; Linn-Mar is at Cedar Falls.
