Lady Indians capture District Title

Staff photo by Aaron Lynn The Kennett Girls and Coaches celebrate after capturing the District Title on Friday night in Kennett

"This feels great," said Kennett's Jerrica Wheeler. "Honestly, right now I'm elated.

The Lady Indians faced off against the Charleston Lady Blue Jays in the championship game. Kennett wasted no time going to work on Charleston in the championship game. The Lady Indians took the game well in hand by a score of 52-26 to advance Kennett to the next round of the state tournament.

Staff photo by Aaron Lynn Kennett's Jerrica Wheeler (5) drives around Charleston's Jasmine Spence (44).

"We're ecstatic," said Kennett coach Casey Bunting. "This was our goal from the first day of practice this year, to get a banner on the wall. It's something that we have worked for all year long. We kept that goal in mind to try and improve our game to get to this point. Now, we're upping our goal and want another banner on the wall. A State banner wouldn't hurt anything."

Not only did the girls capture the district title, but the boys team followed their lead in the second game.

"Both teams winning this on the same night," Wheeler said. "It is probably one of the best things to ever happen to Kennett High School athletics wise. All we have been talking about since district's started is both teams winning. Nobody had faith, especially in the boys team it seams like. They proved people wrong though by coming out to do their job and getting it done."

The Lady Indians asserted their will early in the game. In the first 2:29, Brittney Williams had a steal, assist, rebound and seven-points to give Kennett a nine-point lead (9-0).

"Right off the bat the girls came out with a lot of desire to win," Bunting said. "We knew the key to this game was to dominate the boards. Brittney Williams and the rest of the group dominated the boards all night long. They were just monsters inside and did their job. What they weren't doing on the inside, Jerrica Wheeler and Veronica Amos did on the outside."

After Charleston was forced to call a timeout at the 5:25 mark of the first quarter, Veronica Amos joined in on Williams' presence in the game.

Over the next two-minutes Amos came up with two steals and nailed a 3' to give the Lady Indians a 13-point lead (13-0).

The Lady Blue Jays finally got on the board with 1:39 left in the first quarter with Lakiesha Wilson finding Kasuela Cooper under the basket for two-points (15-2).

Charleston was no match for Kennett though, as the Lady Indians opened up a 22-point lead by halftime (31-9).

"Everybody that came in off the bench tonight had the same desire that the starting five did," Bunting said. "They were ready to push, work and do what they could to get the win."

Wheeler was also a big factor in Kennett's wide margin by bringing an onslaught of fast break baskets to the game.

Staff photo by Aaron Lynn Kennett's Veronica Amos(30) drives to the basket against Charleston's E'Neikqua Ewing (51).

Kennett continued their dominance in the second half and by the fourth quarter there was a running clock.

"We didn't expect a running clock in this game," Bunting said. "When it started to run continuously, I looked at Coach Aaron New and we were both surprised. It just shows that when these girls put their mind to something, they have the ability and talent to do what they want. I'm just so proud of the desire and the effort that the girls put out. They started and finished the game with the same amount of desire and fought all the way through. I could not be more pleased with the effort they put in."

The Lady Indians will advance to the next round where they will face Greenville in Dexter on Wednesday night.

"Greenville only has six or seven players, but they're very strong and smart," Bunting said. "On the court they are very calm and comfortable. They have some great senior leadership. They're also big and rebound well. We'll have our work cut out for us, but we're ready for it.

Wheeler added

"If we go out and work hard and stay intense, hopefully we can come out with the victory."