SHHS edges KHS in girls conference tourney

CAMPBELL, Mo. -- The third time turned out to be the charm for the Lady Lions.

Kennett -- seeded fourth, and Senath-Hornersville -- seeded fifth, met for the third time this season in the first round of the 2005 Bootheel Conference Tournament Monday evening at Campbell High School. The Lady Indians won the previous two meetings by an average of nine points, however, according to SHHS head coach Shannon McGee, the latest contest was the most important. The Lady Lions staved off a brilliant comeback by Kennett to win 46-43.

"The girls' hearts were broken after the last game, but I said that if I have to pick a win against them (KHS), I'm going to pick Monday night," stated McGee. "Even though we would've loved to have the other one, I'd much rather have this one."

There was no spectacular play on either side of the ball, but the Lady Lions were charmed to get out with the win.

"I thought that everybody played really well tonight," said McGee. "They (Kennett) did a good job on the perimeter guarding Emily (Jamerson) and she had only one three-pointer. So, some of the other girls had to step up. Whitney Odle played excellent, despite a few sophomore mistakes, and Brook Shrum and the Wadley twins did a great job tonight too."

Kennett head coach Christel Jefferson revealed that the scheme coming in was to try to limit Jamerson and force someone else to the forefront. Unfortunately for the Lady Indians, the plan didn't quite pan out as Senath-Hornersville still found a way to put the ball in the hole.

"In the process of trying to keep her from beating us, we left the inside open," Jefferson said. "That was the trade off. Our gameplan was to make somebody else beat us and that's what they did."

Jefferson pointed out that most of their misfortune, however, came from within.

"Basically, we beat ourselves. Turnover after turnover, not taking care of the ball and not running our offense hurt us more that anything," she said. "They (SHHS) didn't do anything we didn't expect them to do, I just felt like they executed their offense a little better."

Kennett led 8-7 after the opening quarter, but Senath-Hornersville went on a run in the second and outscored the Lady Indians 18-6 to take a 25-14 lead at the half. During the run, Shrum came off the bench to score eight of her team-high 13 in the period. Jamerson finished with 12.

Capitalizing on solid post play by senior center Monica Duckworth and perimeter shooting by Tori Ratliff, the Lady Indians immediately began chipping away at the lead in the third quarter and didn't let up until the final horn sounded.

Ratliff finished the game with 14 points, but Duckworth -- who drew praise from her coach, anchored the Lady Indians with 15 points and 11 rebounds.

"Look at it this way, this is a kid who maybe averaged four minutes a game last year, but came back this year and is averaging 20 points per game," Jefferson said of Duckworth. "Yes, she is having a great year."

Towards the end of the third, Duckworth completed a conventional 3-point play to pull Kennett within one, 27-28, only to see Jamerson nail a trey with 10 ticks left to give the Lady Lions a two-bucket cushion heading into the fourth quarter.

The teams traded baskets quickly in the last quarter as Stephanie Wadley and Odle combined to counter three straight baskets by Duckworth. The Lady Lions led 35-33 with 5:02 remaining and was still in command, 42-38, following an Odle stickback with just under two minutes left.

Tiffany Jones' driving layup and solo free throw cut the lead for Kennett, but the Lady Lions went up by three on Jessica Wadley's deuce with 1:17 left in the game.

Senath-Hornersville had several opportunities down the stretch to put the game away, however, woeful free throw shooting kept Kennett in the mix. After Jamerson missed the front end of a bonus with :33 to go, the Lady Lions tried to protect their 44-41 lead by playing keep away. Eventually, SHHS' Gloria Rojas hit a bucket with 8 seconds left and Duckworth nailed an 18-footer for the Lady Indians to set the final score.

Senath-Hornersville will play top-seeded Caruthersville on Wednesday at 5:30.

Kennett's junior varsity team fared a whole lot better. The Lady Indians routed Malden 41-19 as Samone Gordon and Leigh Erin Waddell paced them with 14 and 11. London Townsend led Malden with 14.

The fourth-seeded tribe will face top-seeded Senath-Hornersville Wednesday at 4:00.

South Pemiscot 57, Malden 50

In the second varsity contest, third-seed South Pemiscot had all kinds of trouble with the upstart Malden Lady Green Wave. But after a tough third quarter, the Lady Bulldogs managed to hold on for a 57-50 win.

Malden's Stacey Kirkwood recovered the ball after the tip and scored the opening basket. The Lady Bulldogs answered with an opening three pointer from senior Ashley Booker and preceded to pounce all over the Lady Wave. South Pemiscot jumped to a 16-8 lead as Whitley Hubanks scored a fastbreak layup with five seconds left in the quarter.

Hubanks, who scored eight in the first quarter and eight in the fourth, led all scorers with 20. Maegan Booker and Ashley Booker joined Hubanks in double figures with 14 and 10.

Malden got a team-leading 14 points from freshman Hylisha Hill, but Kelly Lemarr proved to be a major thorn in the Bulldogs' paws. The 5-foot-10 center posted a double-double with 13 points 20 rebounds, may of which were offensive.

Lemarr's presence in the middle allowed Malden to stay within striking distance throughout the game. She grabbed six offensive boards in the first half alone, giving the Lady Wave several second chance points. Malden managed to cut the deficit to four in the second quarter, but a steal and a layup by Dawn Leathers at the buzzer put South Pemiscot on top 26-20 at the break.

Malden employed a different strategy in the third by releasing a full court outlet pass after each South Pemiscot shot attempt, whether it hit or missed. The Lady Wave gamble paid off as they outscored the Lady Bulldogs 18-15 in the quarter, however, they still trailed 41-38.

The fourth quarter was action-packed as Malden tried to rally. Trailing 55-50 with 30 seconds to go, Kirkwood almost gave the Lady Wave new life with a three-pointer, but the ball rimmed out. The interior strength of Maegan Booker and the backcourt speed of Hubanks worked heavily in the Lady Bulldogs' favor over the final few minutes, including Hubanks blazing fastbreak layup to set the final score. South Pemiscot will face the winner of today's game between Portageville and Campbell at 8:30 on Wednesday.

South Pemiscot's jayvee team, seeded sixth, pulled off the upset as they knocked off third-seeded Caruthersville 36-26. Ketrina Jones and Latarsha Pickings led the Lady Bulldogs with 11 and nine, while sophomore guard Marsha Sargent led the Lady Tigers with nine.

South Pemiscot will play Portageville at 7:00 on Wednesday.

Box Scores

Varsity

No. 4 Kennett vs No. 5 Sen-H'ville

KHS 8 6 13 16 -- 43

SHHS 7 18 6 15 -- 46

KENNETT (43) -- Monica Duckworth 15, Tori Ratliff 14, Tiffany Jones 6, Alayna Palmer 4, Erica Watkins 2, Whitney Harrell 2. Team FT's: 7-of-14, 50%. (3-pointers: None).

SENATH-HORNERSVILLE (46) -- Brook Shrum 13, Emily Jamerson 12, Whitney Odle 8, Stephanie Wadley 8, Jessica Wadley 4, Gloria Rojas 1. Team FT's: 5-of-10, 50%. (3-pointers: Jamerson 1).

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No. 3 South Pemiscot vs. No. 6 Malden

SPHS 16 10 15 16 -- 57

MHS 8 12 18 12 -- 50

SOUTH PEMISCOT (57) -- Whitley Hubanks 20, Maegan Booker 14, Ashley Booker 10, Dawn Leathers 9, Alisha Thomas 4. Team FT's: 4-of-15, 27%. (3-pointers: A. Booker 2, Leathers 1).

MALDEN (50) -- Hylisha Hill 14, Kelley Lemarr 13, Stacey Kirkwood 9, Kristi Gage 9, Ronkisha McCoy 3, Shatrasha Jones 2. Team FT's: 13-of-25, 52%. (3-pointers: Kirkwood 1).

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Junior Varsity

No. 4 Kennett vs No. 5 Malden

KHS 10 6 10 15 -- 41

MHS 2 6 5 6 -- 19

KENNETT (41) -- Samone Gordon 14, Leigh Erin Waddell 11, Tanika Parker 5, Keisha Smoot 4, Jessie Greenway 4, Brianne Adaway 3. Team FT's: 7-of-15, 47%. (3-pointers: None).

MALDEN (19) -- London Townsend 14, Kali James 2, Marresia Harris 2, Brittany Bionairz 1. Team FT's: 1-of-11, 9%. (3-pointers: None).

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No. 3 Caruthersville vs No. 6 South Pemiscot

CHS 8 0 5 13 -- 26

SPHS 12 4 13 7 -- 36

CARUTHERSVILLE (26) -- Marsha Sargent 9, Janique Prather 8, Tierra Perry 5, Lanae Mae 2, Lanisha Sargent 2. Team FT's: 9-of-19, 47%. (3-pointers: Prather 2, M. Sargent 1).

SOUTH PEMISCOT (36) -- Ketrina Jones 11, Latarsha Pickings 9, Shercarro Hendrix 4, Kalyn Helfer 4, Haven Isbell 4, Keandra Jones 2, Kendra Johnson 2. Team FT's: 2-of-14, 14%. (3-pointers: None).