All year long Kennedy Head Coach Jon McKowen looked for his team to put together 32 minutes of basketball. Kennedy did just that as they downed 3A #1 Dubuque Wahlert 72-62 on senior night at Kennedy.

“I thought we just played within ourselves,” McKowen said. “As a team we had a really great game and that makes us really tough to guard. We have different guys hitting shots and spreading the floor.”

Senior A.J. Carter lead the Cougars in scoring with 24 points.

“I just got to the basket,” Carter said. “That’s what I’ve been doing for a long time now, it just keeps getting easier and easier as the game goes on.”

Kennedy jumped out to a 19-13 lead after the first quarter and took a 35-31 lead heading into halftime.

All year Kennedy has played a strong second half and this game was no different as they went on a 22-8 run in the third quarter to take a 57-39 lead.

Top ranked Wahlert wouldn’t go away easy as they trimmed the Cougar lead to seven points with just under a minute left. But the Cougars proved to be too much and sealed a huge victory heading into the post season.

“This win means a lot going into playoffs,” Carter said. “We got momentum on our side and that’s what we we’re looking to do.”

This Kennedy team was left out to dry before the season started and has shocked a lot of people finishing the season at 16-5 and they have their sights set on the state tournament.

“That was our goal from the start this year,” McKowen said. “A lot of people didn’t believe it coming into the season but I think a lot of people are starting to believe it now.”