The buzz around town is certainly gaining momentum regarding Tuesday night’s basketball game between Class 4A c0-No 2.-ranked Linn-Mar (17-1)and Cedar Rapids Kennedy (18-0). The buzz is deafening despite the fact both teams have difficult tests Friday when Linn-Mar hosts Iowa City West and Kennedy goes across town to Cedar Rapids Washington.
With both schools doing so well this year, people’s minds have wandered back 25 years ago to 1984 when Linn-Mar and Kennedy were both highly ranked and they played memorable games at the (then) Five Seasons Center and Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Linn-Mar was the defending state champion in ‘84 and Kennedy went on to win the state championship that year.
But you really only have to look back three years to find two other memorable Linn-Mar/Kennedy games. In 2006, both teams were ranked in the top-five all season and played two of the best games of the season within a week of each other. The first was a regular-season finale and the second a 4A substate semifinal.
Here are The Gazette accounts of those two games, which featured terrific performances from a slew of players who went on to earn first-team all-state recognition at some point in their careers. The first game was played Feb. 24, 2006, at Linn-Mar:
By Jeff Dahn
MARION – After becoming the Metro area’s all-time career scoring leader,
Linn-Mar’s Jason Bohannon received a polite, standing ovation from more than 2,000 fans crowded into the steamy Linn-Mar gym.
After winning one of the best games of this high school basketball season, the Kennedy Cougars were mobbed by their classmates in a wild scene of celebration that put a terrific topper on a
fantastic night of basketball.
Class 4A fifth-ranked Kennedy got double-digit scoring from four starters and an excellent defensive effort from its fifth and outlasted second-ranked Linn-Mar last night, 93-88, in a double-overtime Mississippi Valley Conference thriller.
“They have a great team and the atmosphere they had was pretty intense,” Kennedy senior Ben Lamaak said. “We came over here and we played smart and that’s something we’ve been working on the last couple of years. There have been some games we haven’t been able to finish, but this ball club is able to do that.”
Lamaak was a big reason the Cougars will enter the postseason next week with a record of 19-2. The 6-foot-4 senior finished with a monster double-double of 29 points and 23 rebounds, including a three-point play that gave Kennedy a 91-88 lead with 36.8 seconds left in the second overtime.
Quite a few of his rebounds came off the offensive glass.
“That’s one of the ways I try to get some of my points,” Lamaak said.
“We have some strong, athletic guys and the ball was rolling our way.”
Kennedy enjoyed a 58-51 lead at the end of the third period, and the seven points were the most to separate the teams. The game was knotted at 74 at the end of regulation after Bohannon made two free throws with
12.8 seconds left. The Cougars didn’t grab the upper hand until Lamaak’s three-point play and two free throws from Rory Cunningham with 4.9 seconds left in the second OT.
“Both teams showed a lot of guts, heart and desire,” Kennedy Coach Bob Fontana said. “It was a possession by possession game and we played five quarters of basketball. There was a lot of effort left on the floor tonight by both teams.”
Kaylon Williams made three 3-pointers and finished with 25 points, Cunningham had 20 points and nine rebounds and Ryan Keel finished with 11 points and eight rebounds in support of Lamaak. Craig Schultz, the other starter, had eight points but spent most of his energy guarding Bohannon.
Bohannon, who finished with a team-high 31 points, netted an 18-foot jumper from the left wing with 5:39 left in the third period for his 11th and 12th points, which made him the Metro’s all-time scoring leader with 1,525. He has 1,544 for his career.
Jordan Printy finished with 22 points for the Lions (19-2), who also got a strong game from senior point guard Blair Harris, who made 8 of 9 field goal attempts for 17 points.
“I thought (Kennedy) played great defense all night,” Linn-Mar Coach Chris
Robertson said. “We had to work really hard for everything we got. I told the guys in the locker room that unfortunately somebody had to lose that game, but what a great basketball game. These are two great teams.”
Despite its 19-2 record, Linn-Mar had to play a first-round substate against Clinton, which it won to set up a substate semifinal rematch with Cougars on March 3, 2006, at Kennedy. Only a week had passed since the regular season double-OT knockdown, and Bohannon and Lamaak once again put on a show:
By Jeff Dahn
CEDAR RAPIDS – Back and forth they battled, possession after possession, big shot after big shot, big play after eye-popping big play.
But in Class 4A boys’ basketball in the state of Iowa in 2006, there is simply no one who can take over a game like Linn-Mar’s Jason Bohannon.
Bohannon wowed a capacity crowd of more than 2,100 energetic fans who seldom sat down by scoring 18 points in the fourth quarter, leading Linn-Mar past Ben Lamaak and Cedar Rapids Kennedy, 75-74, in a substate tournament semifinal at Kennedy.
Lamaak, who had his stellar senior season brought to a close, scored 17 of his 28 points in the final frame as he and Bohannon single-handedly hoisted their teams on their backs. But in the end, as has happened so often the past three seasons, Bohannon and the Lions prevailed.
“The first three quarters our guys played great,” said Bohannon, who drilled five 3-pointers – four in the fourth quarter – and finished with a game-high 31 points. “Blair Harris played a great game, Joe Elgin had some huge baskets in there, and we just played great team ball.
“Toward the end I just started feeling it and felt like I had to do what I had to do to move us on to the next round.”
The next round is Tuesday when the 4A fifth-ranked Lions (21-2) face No.-10 Cedar Rapids Jefferson (16-6) in the second game of a substate double-header at the U.S. Cellular Center.
Fourth-ranked Kennedy (19-3) completed its best season since the 1997 team finished fourth at the state tournament. There wasn’t a dry eye in the Cougar locker room after the loss.
“It’s real difficult,” Kennedy Coach Bob Fontana said. “I hurt because I
hurt for the kids. This group has been a very special group for us and it’s been a fun group to coach. They’ve played big in big games for us this year, and we just came up a few points short.”
The second half of last night’s game featured 17 lead changes and four ties, including 11 lead changes in the fourth period. It was the Bohannon and Lamaak show, as Bohannon put down 4 of 5 3-point attempts during one incredible 5-minute stretch, while Lamaak kept pace by hitting all eight of his field goal attempts over the final 8 minutes, including a long
3-pointer at the buzzer.
Bohannon’s final 3-pointer gave the Lions a 70-68 lead with 58 seconds left. Jordan Printy and sophomore Grant Gibbs then combined for four free throws to make it 74-69 with 20 seconds remaining, and, at long last, Linn-Mar was in control.
“What a great game,” Linn-Mar Coach Chris Robertson said. “I really feel bad
that Kennedy has to drop out now. It’s a great team, and I still think we should play each other in Des Moines. But we’re excited about the win. I thought a lot of guys stepped up for both teams.”
The game really didn’t feature Bohannon and Lamaak until the final period.
Linn-Mar’s Harris and Elgin each scored 12 points in the first three quarters. Gibbs hit 3-pointers in each of the second and third quarters and finished with eight points.
On the Kennedy side, sophomore Kaylon Williams netted 13 of his 16 in the first three periods, and Rory Cunningham finished with 15, 12 in the first three periods.
Fontana was visibly frustrated he won’t be taking such a talented team to state.
“(Linn-Mar) did what they had to do to win, and as I told our kids, unfortunately a state tournament game was played right here in Cedar Rapids tonight.”
Linn-Mar beat Jefferson in the substate final and advanced to the state tournament for what was then the third straight year. The Lions beat Indianola in a first-round game at state then lost to Pleasant Valley and Sioux City East to finish fourth.
