Cape Central blows by Kennett on senior night

Senior night always serves as one last chance for the senior class to make a memory at home.

The Cape Central Tigers did just that as they downed the Kennett Indians 93-53 on Friday at Cape Central High School.

“It took us a little bit to get going,” Tigers coach Drew Church said. “In the first half, I didn’t think we guarded very well. We kind of gambled too much and gave them so open looks and let them get going downhill.”

The Tigers began the game rather cold from the floor, but their ability to control the offensive glass earned them extra possessions they capitalized on.

“We have to give ourselves second shot opportunities,” Church said. “I think TySeanDre’ (Edwards) and Max (Vogel) do that and I think Tyson (Williams) does that as well. In any game, if you get more than one opportunity it’s going to make your offense better.”

The early success on the glass allowed the Tigers to take an 18-7 lead after the first quarter.

Kennett however wouldn’t roll over as the Indians pieced together a terrific second quarter behind 22 first-half points from Ashton Dismukes.

“Kennett just got on a roll and made shots and we didn’t make it too tough on them,” Church said. “Going forward we just have to continue to get better.”

Cape Central salvaged an otherwise disastrous quarter in the final seconds by scoring back-to-back buckets to take a 41-32 lead into the locker room at halftime.

After generating some momentum heading into halftime, Kennett was forced to take an early timeout in the third quarter as the Tigers opened the frame on a 14-2 run to take a commanding 55-34 lead.

The run continued as Cape Central added to its lead with seemingly no resistance from the Indians.

The Tigers won the third quarter 33-5 to take a 74-37 lead into the fourth.

Because of the dominating third quarter, the Tigers were able to trigger the running clock for the final eight minutes.

Leading the way for Cape Central was Jaydon Reynolds who poured in a game-high 32 points in the victory.

“Jay hasn’t been shooting as well as he had been,” Church said. “I was glad to see him make some shots. It’s good for him to see the shots go down. I thought our guys did a really good job of getting him spots where he can make shots.”

Kennett was led by Dismukes who finished with 31 points in the loss.

Kennett (5-18) will close out its regular season at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 22, when the Indians host Doniphan for senior night at Kennett High School.

Cape Central (16-8) has one final tune-up before Class 5 District 1 play as the Tigers will host Park Hills Central at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 20.

After Tuesday’s clash with Park Hills Central, the Tigers will have over a week off before C5D1 play begins.

Church said it will be important to find ways to compete in practice to stay sharp.

“You want to try to have some competition,” Church said. “But, this is also the time of year when you want to rest your legs because you’re playing so many games. It’s kind of a happy medium of resting your legs but still saying that if we’re going to (practice) for 45 minutes, it’s going to be a hard 45 minutes.”