Central boys basketball team overtakes Kennett in fourth quarter

The Kennett Indians spent the first three quarters of Friday night''s game earning the respect of host Cape Central for their ability to shoot a basketball from long range.

The Tigers spent the final quarter responding.

"They were knocking them down, and we had to respect it," said Central junior guard Jawone Newell about a Kennett squad that shot 50 percent from behind the 3-point arc over the first three quarters, connecting on 8 of 16 attempts.

The final one of those eight 3s was more a demonstration of exactly how hot the Indians were, as Carlos Turner banked in a 3-point shot at the buzzer to end the third quarter to stake Kennett to a four-point lead.

The shot proved to be the pinnacle for Kennett.

The Indians went cold down the stretch, as the Tigers allowed just 1 of 7 3-point attempts to find the mark over the final eight minutes.

It fit the formula Central coach Drew Church wants his team to follow.

The defense led to missed shots, turnovers and points on the fast break.

It also resulted in a 63-55 win for the Tigers, who outscored the Indians 22-10 in the fourth quarter with their ramped-up defense leading the way.

"Transition is big for us," Church said. "If we can guard and get some rebounds and get out on transition, that's when we're playing our best basketball. I thought late we had some key steals."

The Tigers (16-5, 3-1 SEMO Conference) held a 10-point lead, 23-13, midway through the second quarter when Kennett went into sizzle mode from behind the arc. The Tigers double-figure lead was a slim 25-24 advantage at the break after the Indians hit their final three 3-point attempts of the half. The Indians' second 3-pointer of the game was made by Jahaida Childress with 3 minutes, 15 seconds left in the half, and Edward Wilson followed with two 3s from the deep right corner on back-to-back possessions in the final minute, closing the gap to a single point.

Kennett (9-10), which saw Central score the first eight points of the game, took its first lead of the night when Jad Kenney tallied the first points of the second half.

There would be five more lead changes and four ties in a dramatic second half between teams that both won Christmas tournament titles -- Central claimed the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament while Kennett captured the Bloomfield Christmas Tournament.

Four of the Indians' eight baskets in the third quarter came from behind the arc.

"We had trouble getting out and defending that," Church said. "We knew they were good shooters, but we didn't think they'd just jump up in our face and hit them like that. We had to try to adjust, and we were a little slow to do that."

Central trailed by five points, 34-29, after Caruthers hit a 3, but the Tigers answered with a 7-0 run, capped by a driving layin by Newell that gave Central a 36-34 lead with 3:04 left in the quarter. The two-point advantage lasted all of 17 seconds, with Caruthers striking for another trey.

Church immediately called timeout and could be heard shouting "New rule" in the huddle.

"New rule, yeah," Church said with a smile after the game. "We wanted to at least contest 3s or get our feet on that 3-point line and make their 3s a little tougher."

"He just said keep it contested, don't let them shoot a 3 without it being contested," said sophomore Austin Parker, who finished with 11 points and made his presence felt on defense. "As the game went on, our guys really worked on it. We shut them down from there."

Central senior Al Young also made things tough for the Indians.

Young, who signed to play football for Southeast Missouri State earlier in the week, showcased his athletic ability immediately after the timeout.

He went high to make a one-handed interception of an Indian pass while in his own lane, drove the length of the court and scooped in a left-handed layin off the glass while being fouled by Caruthers. The three-point play gave Central a 39-37 lead.

Young had 10 of his game-high 23 points in the period. He's averaged 26.4 points over his last five games.

"He's a phenomenal high-school athlete, and he's going to be a really good athlete at the next level," Kennett coach Jim Vaughan said. "He's a matchup nightmare for a lot of high school players. When he decides he wants to do something, sometimes there's not a lot of answers you can have for him."

Young gave Central a 41-39 lead in the final minute of the quarter, but Kennett again struck for six quick points by Turner, who first converted on a conventional three-point play before banking in his 3 at the buzzer.

Kennett took its biggest lead of the game at 47-41 when Wilson scored on a pass inside with 7:26 left.

Central then received a spark from senior Tevyn Wright-Hunt, who scored all seven of his points for the game in the fourth quarter.

Wright-Hunt scored six of those points in an 8-0 burst by the Tigers, and he provided an assist on the other two points with a feed inside to Blake Harris.

Wright-Hunt tied the game at 47-47 after he misfired on a 3-pointer, grabbed his own miss and cut through traffic for a layin. He then gave Central the lead, 49-47, on a 15-footer with 4:42 left.

Kennett answered with a pair of baskets, with a long outlet pass from Fred Gooden to Kenny resulting in a thee-point play and a 52-49 lead for the Indians with 3:53 left.

"We had a three-point lead with more than half of the fourth quarter complete, and we had two low IQ possessions, a bad shot, a rushed shot where we weren't forced to take and didn't' have to take, and then a forced dribble for a turnover, and both of them ended in transition layups that got it tied back up, and from there it just kind of went downhill for us," Vaughan said.

After Kenny's basket, Central responded with a 9-0 burst over the next two minutes. Young turned another steal into a layin to put the Tigers ahead for good at 53-52, and Parker and Young later blocked shots on back-to-back possessions by the Indians.

Central led 58-52 after Young capped the run with a nifty inside baseline pass to Harris while tightly guarded.

Turner responded with Kennett's lone 3-pointer of the period with 1:35 left. The Indians nearly pulled even on their next possession, but a 3-pointer by Caruthers was waved off when Parker drew an offensive foul under the basket.

Central, which hit on 9 of 13 shots in the fourth quarter, scored the final four points to secure the win.

Central connected on 25 of 49 shots for the game.

Kennett hit on 22 of 45 shots, but was just 4 of 13 in the fourth quarter.

Turner finished with 14 points to lead the Indians, while Caruthers had 12.

Kennett 11 13 21 10 -- 55

Cape Central 12 13 16 22 -- 63

KENNETT (55) -- Rantrell Caruthers 12, Carlos Turner 14, Patrick Maddox 4, Fred Gooden 7, Jahaida Childress 3, Edward Wilson 8, Jad Kenny 7. FG 22, FT 2-4, F 19 (3-pointers: Caruthers 2, Turner 3, Gooden, Childress, Wilson 2. Fouled out: none)

CAPE CENTRAL (63) -- Zyshon Mallory 3, Al Young 23, Tevyn Wright-Hunt 7, Jawone Newell 9, Austin Parker 11, Blake Harris 8, Garrett Jackson 2. FG 25, FT 13-23, F 8 (3-pointers: none. Fouled out: none)