Keota season ends at Notre Dame

BURLINGTON - The Notre Dame offense didn't make it easy on Keota in Thursday night's Iowa High School Athletic Association Class 1A District 8 boys basketball quarterfinal.

The Eagles couldn't get the defensive stops they needed, and despite 28 points from J.D. Stout, Keota was eliminated 92-66.

'We just couldn't get any defensive stops at all,” Keota head coach Dan Stout said after the game. 'We tried every defense we had, and none of them worked. Give credit to them, they played better than us.”

The Nike offense jumped on the Eagles early, especially Riley Koenig, who lived inside all day. Notre Dame used its size inside to take a 26-16 advantage after the first quarter and held a 53-35 halftime lead.

'We knew that was going to be a tough matchup for us,” Coach Stout said. 'We don't have a lot of size, and I said if they kill us on the boards, we're going to be in trouble. Unfortunately when they did miss, they got the rebound and put them back in.”

Stout was going off for the first three quarters of the game, putting up 27 points before the final period, but Notre Dame seemed to have the answer every time. At the end of the third quarter, the Nikes held a 76-58 lead.

Koenig and Gavin Kies each eclipsed 20 points for Notre Dame. When it was all said and done, Koenig had 27 and Kies had 21.

Stout's 28 points were right on his season average. Luke Hammen added 15 points on five 3-point makes.

The Eagles finished the season 12-8. Notre Dame moved on to the district semifinals to play New London, who defeated Cardinal 79-34.