SIOUX CITY NORTH 78, CEDAR RAPIDS KENNEDY 72

The first school from Sioux City to win a state championship in girls basketball now has a chance to win another.

In the best game of this year's tournament so far, No. 2 Sioux City North outlasted No. 9 Cedar Rapids Kennedy 78-72 Friday to reach the Class 4A title game.

North built a 15-point lead, then fought off repeated challenges from Kennedy to improve to 24-1 for the season. The Stars will try for their second championship in three years at 8 p.m. Saturday. They beat Des Moines Roosevelt for the 2007 title, the first for a Sioux City school in girls basketball.

Josee Jansen led North with 19 points, while Jalyssa Ceasar and Brittni Donaldson each scored 18. Ceasar, an all-tournament selection two years ago, also grabbed 12 rebounds.

Kennedy finished 17-8, but look for the Cougars to be a factor again next season because coach Dennis Roloff started all juniors, including University of Iowa recruit Jade Rogers. Rogers had a huge game with 22 points on 9-for-15 shooting and 13 rebounds. She got seven of those rebounds on the offensive end and also made a 3-pointers.

Laura Boenish, who had an outstanding tournament, added 20 points, four assists and two steals for the Cougars, who made a strong postseason run after losing their last four regular-season games.

Kennedy trailed 49-34 early in the second half, then got back into the game with a 13-2 run. North got the lead back up to 12, but the Cougars stormed back again, getting some help from North's shaky free throw shooting.

Kennedy twice got within two points in the late going, the second time at 74-72 on Mariah Duke's 3-pointer with 24 seconds remaining. But North made four of six free throws to finish it off.

With North leading 71-67, the Stars missed five straight foul shots. But they regrouped and hit seven of their last 10 to secure the victory.

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