Tribe routs defending Arkansas Class 5A champ at Classic

JONESBORO, Ark. -- After coming close to winning a pair of games against tough competition at the Hurricane Classic, the Kennett Indians finally broke through on Saturday.

The Tribe outscored Greene County Tech 19-2 in the final period to take a 70-46 win over the defending Class 5A state champions in Arkansas in the seventh-place game of the Classic.

"After dropping two close ones the previous days, we felt like it was a must-win," Kennett coach Jim Vaughan said. "We needed confidence. We needed to show we could finish the game. Just getting the win was good for our pysche. Then obviously by beating somebody the caliber of Greene County Tech, we learned a lot more about ourselves and about how good we can be."

Kennett's depth played a big factor in Saturday's win over the Eagles, as the Tribe turned a tight game in the third quarter into a rout by the final buzzer.

"We were fresh to make shots," said Vaughan. "We were fresh to defend. We were fresh to have one and done on the defensive end. Our depth was definitely key for our team."

Fred Garmon led Kennett with 13 points while also adding four rebounds, five assists and three steals, while Jimmy Gooden and Andy Lack each scored 11 and Cameron Wallace added 10.

Gooden also had 10 rebounds for a double-double, while all-tournament selection Randrick Caruthers finished with six points, 10 assists, five rebounds and four steals while averaging 16 points per game in the tourney.

"Obviously we would have liked to come out of there with more wins ..." Vaughan said. "(But we were) happy to compete every night. That's what we wanted out of the tournament. We got better for it, no matter what our record came out of the tournament."

Kennett heads to Caruthersville tonight then heads to Paragould, Ark. on Friday for a rematch with GCT.

North Pem 58, Delta C7 55
At Wardell, the Mustangs rallied from a seven-point halftime deficit to improve to 5-0 on the season.

Fresh off of winning the Bulldog Classic on Saturday night as a No. 6 seed -- downing the top three seeds on the road to the title -- North Pemiscot found itself down 32-25 at the half before rallying in the third period to take a 40-37 lead to the final quarter.

Dominique Lyons led the Mustangs with 18 points, while Brandon Holloman added 10.

Despite the loss, Delta coach Nathan Baker was pleased with his team's performance.

"It was definitely a great effort by our guys," Baker said. "You couldn't ask for anything more. They just came up on the short end of a very good game."

Damian Flowers led the Chargers (1-3) with 20 points while James Blanton added 14 and Stewart Mullins chipped in 11.

North Pem won the jayvee game 55-30.

Jr. High
Tribes advance to Bootheel semis
At Kennett Middle School, the Kennett Indians seventh- and eighth-grade boys basketball teams won a pair of hard-fought contests to advance to the Bootheel Conference Tournament semifinals.

In eighth-grade action, the Tribe opened the final period with an 11-0 run to take a 51-40 win over Malden.

"When we had to, we stepped up and played tough defense," Kennett coach Brent Carr said. "That's what you've got to do this time of the year because everybody gets up to play in the tournament. They know if you lose, you go home. If you win, you play for another day."

Kevonte Mitchell led the Tribe with 17 points, while Antavies Drake added 15 and Declan Wallace tossed in nine.

In the seventh-grade game, Kennett won 31-24 over Portageville as BJ Carr led the way with 18 points.

"We did a good job the second half of blocking out and rebounding ... " Kennett coach Kevin McCaig said, "But the key thing is to survive and move on in tournament play and live to fight another day. They did that. They competed and they made the plays at the end of the game that needed to be made."

Bud Hilburn added nine points in the win.