After the 2025-2026 Kennedy Girls’ basketball season ended with a 12-11 record, standout sophomore point guard Bentley Dill sums up the season with one word. Resilient.
“We started off the season zero and five and didn’t win a game,” Dill said. “But we bounced back and recovered quickly and ended the season with a winning record.”
After losing 35-68 to Dowling Catholic, the season came to an end. The game’s leading scorer was Dill, scoring 15 points. Dill also led the team with nine rebounds, followed by junior Payton Thier with four and senior Alaina Canney with two.
Dill led the team this season, averaging 21.3 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. She finished the season with 491 points, along with 156 rebounds and 64 assists.
“I think one of Bentley’s biggest contributions is just the effort she always puts in to make us better, and she always leads by example,” sophomore teammate Addison Stallman said.
Not far behind Dill was Canney, with 183 points this season on 52.3% shooting from the field, along with the team’s second-best rebounds with 117. Stallman added 144 points and 40 assists throughout the season. She contributed 88 rebounds and 28 steals. Freshman Ella Jameson led the team with 15 blocks, followed by Canney with 11.
“Our biggest accomplishment was making it to the third round this year,” Thier said. “That’s the farthest we’ve gotten in at least 10 years.”
The Cougars beat Waukee 66-61 for the substate victory. Dill had 31 points with seven rebounds, while Canney had 11 points and nine rebounds.
“My favorite memory from the season was when we beat Waukee in the regional semifinal and jumped into the pool afterwards,” freshman Ella Jameson said.
In the final game of the season against Dowling Catholic, the Cougars scored 11 in the first quarter, followed by 9 in the second. Coming back from halftime with a score of 20-44. Finishing out the game, the girls scored 4 and 11 in the third and fourth quarters.
“This year’s team really felt like a family. We all had our ups and downs, but held each other up and accountable,” Jameson said, “It was a really fun group of people to spend a lot of time with.”
The girls ended the season fourth in the Mississippi Valley Conference.
“One big goal I have for next year is to make it to state and have that feeling of holding up the state qualifier banner with our tickets punched,” Stallman said.
This season coming to an end brings up many feelings of joy and good memories.
“My favorite memory from this season was either us getting a big win against Prairie or the fun games we played before our games,” Dill said.
The team has high goals for progressing their talent to another level.
“One goal I have for this next season is to make it to state and end with a winning record,” Dill said.
