Daily Dunklin Democrat: High School Sports: Lady Tribe rides defense into seventh-grade final (11/20/09)

Staff photo by Mike Buhler
Kennett's Logan Vaughan (22) tries to get the handle on a ball during the second half of Thursday's seventh-grade semifinal of the Bootheel Conference Tournament against Hayti at Caruthersville.

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CARUTHERSVILLE, Mo. -- They say that defense wins championships. If that's true, the Kennett Lady Indians are in good shape coming into tonight.

The Lady Tribe held Hayti without a field goal the entire game as it rolled to an eye-popping 28-1 victory over Hayti in the seventh-grade semifinals of the Bootheel Conference Tournament here Thursday.

The eighth-grade squad wasn't as fortunate, falling to Senath-Hornersville 28-17 in the other grade's semifinals.

Staff photo by Mike Buhler
Kennett's Darby Sparks (10) is pressured by a Senath-Hornersville defender during the first half of Thursday's eighth-grade semifinal of the Bootheel Conference Tournament at Caruthersville.

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In the seventh-grade contest, Kennett led 7-0 after one quarter and led 18-0 at the half as it took a shutout into the fourth quarter.

Kate Shetley led the Lady Tribe with nine points, while Kenna Hounihan added eight and Logan Vaughan chipped in six in the win.

In the eighth-grade contest, the Lady Lions avenged an earlier loss to Kennett, outscoring the Lady Indians 16-6 in the middle quarters to take a commanding 20-8 lead to the final period.

Darby Sparks led Kennett with six points, while Shon Wynne added five in the loss.

Rachel Tom scored a game-high 11 points to lead Senath-Hornersville.

Kennett will play for the seventh-grade conference tourney championship this evening at 6 p.m. while the Lady Lions will play at 7:30 p.m.