For first time in a while, the Kennett Indians and Lady Indians opened the basketball season with wins.

First, the Lady Indians rallied from an eight-point third-quarter deficit to down archrival Senath-Hornersville 43-32 in the opening round of the Bulldog Classic Invitational at Steele.

The win is especially huge for a Kennett team that has won just four games each of the last two years and was an underdog to the Lady Lions on Monday night.

It's still early, but the Lady Tribe's 2-3 zone looks like it could give teams problems this winter. On offense, Jerica Wheeler continues to improve in her sophomore year, while newcomer Brittney Williams (played at Poplar Bluff last season) looks like she could be a force inside.

As for the boys, the Tribe entered the season with high expectations, returning almost everyone from a team that won the Bootheel Conference Tournament last winter and that a six-game improvement from the previous season.

Kennett lived up to those expectations, blowing out Fredericktown 72-48 in pool play at the Potosi Invitational.

Kennett's defense held the Blackcats under 50 points and recorded 14 steals, while on offense the Indians were balanced in the scoring column -- six players scored six or more points -- and hit the offensive glass for 14 offensive boards.

With a win over North County on Thursday, the Tribe will play for the title at Potosi on Saturday and could make a run at a high seed -- possibly even the top seed -- at the Bloomfield Christmas Tournament by winning the championship at Potosi.

By the way, Bloomfield seeds this Sunday.

One thing is for sure: it may be early, but the 2008-09 basketball season is showing promise here in Kennett...