Parr lifts Tribe over Hayti

HAYTI, Mo. -- Early foul trouble held Blake Parr in check for the first half. But it didn't when it counted.

Parr scored 11 of his team-high 17 points in the final 3:31 as the Kennett Indians pulled out a 63-59 victory over Hayti here Friday night in Bootheel Conference play.

Held to just two points in the first half, Parr scored 11 of Kennett's last 12 points, including the go-ahead bucket with 3:31 left in the game.

"He owed us a half of basketball because he got in foul trouble early," Kennett coach Jim Vaughan said. "But he came through late, finished tough and made free throws down the stretch too."

After an Antonio Jones free throw made it 53-52 with 3:30 left in the game, Parr scored back-to-back baskets to put the Tribe (6-4, 3-1 Bootheel) up 57-52 with 2:27 remaining.

Hayti (6-5, 1-3) did not give up, answering with a Keenan Williams bucket and a pair of Jones foul shots to make it 57-56 with 1:54 to go.

However, Parr answered again, converting a 3-point play 21 seconds later to push the lead to four (60-56) and give the Tribe a spark.

Tevin Hampton then added a free throw with 1:01 to go and two more foul shots by Parr with 46 seconds left put Kennett up by seven -- the biggest lead by either team Friday in a game that featured 15 lead changes and 12 ties.

"It's a tough place to play right here," said Vaughan. "They're good on their home floor. They're just competitive kids -- they make you play every play."

Indeed, the game was competitive from the opening tip Friday.

Kennett went up 10-7 on Cameron Conder's basket with 3:25 left in the first quarter, but three straight free throws by Byron Norris gave Hayti a 12-10 lead just two minutes later.

And so it went Friday.

Jimmie Gooden hit a 3-pointer to make it 24-19 -- the biggest lead by either side at that point -- with 5:36 left in the first half, but Hayti answered with a 12-2 run to take a 31-26 lead on Williams' trey with 1:05 remaining until halftime.

The Tribe got a third-quarter spark from Fred Garmon, who scored eight of his 10 points in the third period, including a pair of triples that gave Kennett leads.

"He just made some gutsy shots when we were struggling some for some offense," Vaughan said. "Not just him, but Tevin hit a huge 3 at one point that gave us a lead. Tevin didn't shoot well tonight but that 3 was a lot of courage on his part."

Hampton hit that 3 with 5:10 left in the contest, wiping out a one-point deficit and giving the Tribe a 49-47 lead. Kennett never trailed again.

Jarvis Finley scored 13 points for Kennett to join Parr and Garmon in double figures, while Williams led all scorers with 20 points.

The Tribe played at Doniphan Saturday night, but will open a five-game homestand next week with a pair of Bootheel Conference games. Kennett hosts South Pemiscot on Tuesday and takes on Senath-Hornersville next Friday night in the annual Dunklin War.

With a 3-1 mark in league play, Vaughan is hopeful his team can lock up the No. 2 seed in next month's conference tournament.

"That's our goal right now," said Vaughan. "We've got two next week. Hopefully we can close them out and get us the 2 seed in the tournament."