Prep boys basketball: PV stuns top-ranked Cedar Rapids Kennedy

DES MOINES — Very few, if any, outside the Pleasant Valley High School boys’ basketball team's circle saw this coming.

Cedar Rapids Kennedy was top-ranked, unbeaten and had the majority of its squad back from a state semifinal team. PV was unranked, spent most of the season trying to get healthy and had minimal state tournament experience.

Kennedy blasted fellow Mississippi Athletic Conference members Davenport West and North Scott by a combined 79 points in the postseason. PV clipped those schools by three points each during the regular season.

Even BCMoore, a website that computes high school power rankings and factors in strength of schedule, offensive and defensive averages, had PV as a 24-point underdog.

Welcome to March, the month when the unimaginable can happen.

PV pulled off an Iowa Class 4A state quarterfinal stunner Wednesday afternoon with a 57-45 conquest over Kennedy at Wells Fargo Arena.

“We saw things on Twitter where we were going to get blown out or we didn’t deserve to be here,” Spartan senior Connor Borbeck said. “We wanted to come prove people wrong and come prove people right who had believed in us.”

Belief is one thing. Execution is another.

PV held the top-scoring team in 4A 32 points below its season average. Kennedy had only five steals, more than half below its average.

“There is a list of about six things you’ve got to do to beat Kennedy and we did all of them,” PV coach Steve Hillman said. “It was a perfect storm.”

The Spartans (20-5) are in the semifinals for the first time in seven years. They will play fourth-ranked West Des Moines Valley (19-5) at 5:30 p.m. Thursday. Second-ranked Waukee and third-ranked Waukee Northwest comprise the other semifinal.

“This is an amazing feeling, but we’re not done,” Borbeck said. “We packed our bags for three days and that’s what we’re hoping to do.”

PV followed and executed the game plan to perfection.

It controlled tempo. It limited Kennedy’s dribble penetration. It stymied Kennedy’s two all-state guards — Colby Dolphin and Kenzie Reed — to 4 of 19 shooting and 12 points.

"They were physical on our drives and we weren't able to get to space," Cougars coach Jon McKowen said. "If you can't get to space, you've got to make some shots over the top and we just didn't do that."

PV made seven 3-pointers to Kennedy's six. The Cougars came in leading the state in made 3s (226).

"Our game plan all along was to defend and rebound," junior David Gorsline said. "We stuck together in the tough moments and guarded."

The offense delivered, too.

PV turned the ball over just nine times, shot better than 45% and converted 12 of 13 free throws.

Junior Caden Rubel erupted for a career-high 23 points while Borbeck and Gorsline each had 13 as the Spartans won their 11th consecutive game.

“We were all locked in from the start,” Rubel said. “All week, we’ve been focused on being the more physical team and coming out hard.

“If you’re tougher than the other team, many teams can’t handle that.”

An 8-0 surge before halftime gave the Spartans a four-point lead at intermission.

Rubel and Borbeck carried PV in the opening half with 24 of the team’s 26 points. Gorsline and Max Muszalski joined the mix in the second half.

Kennedy tied the game at 29 in the third quarter, but PV responded with seven straight points.

“We didn’t get the game in the transition flow that we wanted,” McKowen said. “We did a little bit in the third quarter, but we missed a couple rotations on the defensive side.

“Momentum was going our way, but then they hit us on a back door and hit a 3. Then, they could make it a half-court game and slow it down again.”

Kennedy whittled the deficit to one after a Dolphin three-point play with 2:25 remaining in the fourth, but PV tallied the game's final 11 points.

Gorsline scored on a backdoor cut with 2:05 left and then connected on two free throws to up the lead to five. Kennedy turned it over on back-to-back trips and PV capitalized both times to clinch it.

“They were jumping and trapping like they always do, but we did just enough of mixing in a few backdoor cuts for easy ones,” Hillman said. “Our guys late, we didn’t settle for 3s. We took the ball to the basket against the pressure and did a good enough job finishing.

“If they got one more bucket there (when they cut it to one), we might have been in trouble.”

PV, which played competitive games against Kennedy last summer and in a Hall of Pride scrimmage in November, never flinched.

"We knew Kennedy was going to apply a lot of pressure," Gorsline said. "We had to find ways to score. Dribbling around them was not always going to work, so back cuts were helpful.

"We competed really well down the stretch."

For a team seeded third in its substate, PV has pulled off three consecutive "upset" wins over Bettendorf, Dubuque Senior and Kennedy.

"The one thing we do have, we have really tough kids," Hillman said. "They fight and scrap. I wouldn't want to play against them. They're just tenacious that way."

Rubel said last year's substate final exit to Burlington has provided plenty of fuel.

"A lot of our players were on that team last year and losing in substate when we knew we had more in us, it really lit a fire," Rubel said. "We keep thinking about that as we move forward."

Now, PV is in the final four.

"It feels amazing," Gorsline said. "I'm so proud of this team. It is unforgettable."

Pleasant Valley 57, Cedar Rapids Kennedy 45

PLEASANT VALLEY (20-5) – Coy Kipper 0-5 0-0 0, Caden Rubel 7-12 5-6 23, David Gorsline 4-8 4-4 13, Connor Borbeck 4-10 3-3 13, Max Muszalski 4-6 0-0 8, Max Schmeltzer 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 19-42 12-13 57.

CEDAR RAPIDS KENNEDY (22-1) – Kenzie Reed 2-6 1-2 6, Colby Dolphin 2-13 1-1 6, Cyrus Courtney 3-6 0-2 6, Micah Schlaak 6-8 1-1 14, Carter Newhouse 1-2 0-0 3, Jace Scott 0-0 0-0 0, Trey McKowen 2-6 0-0 5, Trevan Krumrei 2-5 0-0 5, Landon Deiters 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-46 3-6 45.

Pleasant Valley;15;11;12;19;--;57

C.R. Kennedy;15;7;10;13;--;45

3-point goals – PV 7-21 (Rubel 4-9, Borbeck 2-7, Gorsline 1-3, Kipper 0-2); Kennedy 6-22 (Dolphin 1-6, Reed 1-5, Krumrei 1-4, McKowen 1-3, Schlaak 1-2, Newhouse 1-1, Courtney 0-1). Rebounds – PV 27 (Gorsline 7, Muszalski 6); Kennedy 23 (Schlaak 6). Assists – PV 11 (Kipper 5); Kennedy 11 (Reed 5). Turnovers – PV 9, Kennedy 10. Total fouls – PV 13, Kennedy 13. Fouled out – Dolphin.