Tribe rallies past Lions into BCT finals

Staff photo by Mike Buhler Kennett's Kavonte Mitchell (34) hits a layup in traffic Wednesday against Senath-Hornersville. [Click to enlarge]

The Kennett Indians have made quite a name for themselves with clutch play in this week's Bootheel Conference Tournament.

That held true again on Wednesday night, as the Tribe closed the game on a 12-0 run to rally for a 50-43 win over the Senath-Hornersville Lions in the semifinals of the eighth-grade boys bracket of the BCT at Kennett Middle School.

The eighth-graders' clutch performance came one night after the seventh-grade Tribe opened the fourth quarter on an 11-0 run to sink South Pemiscot to make the finals.

"The boys just would not give up," Kennett eighth-grade coach Brent Carr said after Wednesday's game. "They had it in their eyes -- they did not want to beaten on their home court the last game. That just shows you what their determination did. ... Senath played a great game. They made it real tough for us. We're really proud of both teams."

Kavonte Mitchell had a huge night for the Tribe Wednesday, scoring a game-high 27 points -- nine in the fourth period -- while teammate Brandon Meek added 16 on the night and Antavies Drake ended up with five.

Lane Earls paced Senath-Hornersville with 16 points, while Tyson Campbell added 14 and Alex Oltman finished with six.

Kennett will take on Malden for the seventh-grade title at 6 p.m. tonight, while the Tribe will face Caruthersville for the eighth-grade title afterwards.