Win gives Lady Lions some consolation

Staff photo by Mike Buhler Members of the Senath-Hornersville Lady Lions basketball team celebrate the squad's win over Greenville Wednesday at the Lady Royals Christmas Classic in Broseley to win the tourney's consolation championship. [Click to enlarge]

BROSELEY, Mo. -- With their leading scorer battling foul trouble, the Senath-Hornersville Lady Lions got their scoring from another source Wednesday.

Hannah Kennedy scored a game-high 26 points rally the Lady Lions to a 57-49 victory over the Greenville Lady Bears in the consolation championship game of the Lady Royals Christmas Classic.

Kennedy's big day stood out all the more considering that Seleena Neal, the team's leading scorer, was held scoreless in the first half before finishing the day with 10 points.

"Hannah having 26 today today was big and a great day for her," Senath-Hornersville coach Jamie Johnson said afterwards. "But the thing I'm most proud of is that we're not a one-man team. Seleena's a great player, but we're not just a one-man show."

After trailing virtually the entire first half, the Lady Lions (6-5) began to assert themselves in the third quarter, going on a 13-3 run to take the lead for good.

Back-to-back baskets by Kennedy tied the game at 25, and a McKenzie Harris 3-pointer gave Senath-Hornersville the lead at 28-25 with 5:03 left in the period.

After Tara Porter converted a three-point play for the Lady Bears to re-tie the score at 28-all, Kennedy added a pair of baskets sandwiched around a Randa Jarred field goal to give Senath-Hornersville a 34-28 lead with 3:01 remaining in the third.

The Lady Lions pushed the lead to 51-42 on a pair of Megan Smith free throws with 2:02 left in the game, but two Porter foul shots and a 3 made it a four-point game in the final minute.

However, back-to-back baskets from Kennedy and Neal and a pair of Kennedy free throws quickly quelled the threat and sealed the game.

"I thought Greenville did a good job of slowing the ball down with the players they had ..." said Johnson. "I think our man pressure in the second half really wore on them a little bit."

After losing in the first round to New Madrid County Central to fall to 3-5 on the season, Johnson believes Senath-Hornersville' may have found its spark by winning the consolation bracket here.

"We're really excited about the tournament," Johnson said. "We lost a tough one to (NMCC) but...to come out of there with three wins, it's pretty sweet."