Central drops SEMO Conference tourney opener

~ The No. 3 seed Tigers lost to No. 6 Kennett 55-52

It's always easier in hindsight.

With his team trailing 55-52 with just more than 10 seconds remaining in the game and his team possessing the ball Central coach Drew Church didn't like the way the possession was shaping up.

Church did what all coaches do and called timeout -- just as junior Jalen Reddin was swishing a game-tying 3-pointer from the corner.

Church couldn't help but to laugh in the huddle.

"It usually works out like that," Church said. "In hindsight, he made it. It's not the first time I've screwed up a game."

Unfortunately for the third-seeded Tigers (0-3) the ensuing play out of the timeout didn't work out the same.

Andre Statam missed a clean look on a potential game-tying 3 and Kennett held on for a wild and often times sloppy 57-52 victory in the opening round of the SEMO Conference Tournament in Sikeston.

"We missed some free throws down the stretch," Kennett coach Jim Vaughan said. "You have to make those. At that point, we're usually more of an attack team. We've got people who can put in on the floor and get to the baskets, but at the point we just wanted to spread them out and see how long we can make these possessions. Bottom line is we did what we had to to be able to come out with a win, put it away and it's a really good feeling for our kids and our program."

It wasn't always pretty, but the Indians (2-1) proved to be up to the task.

Sixth-seeded Kennett led 45-43 heading into the final quarter and quickly pushed its lead to 51-44 with a 6-1 run to start the fourth.

The Indians couldn't shake the Tigers after that.

Turnovers, missed free throws, and ill advised 3-pointers helped keep the Tigers alive.

"During that stretch where we could have opened it up a little bit about mid-fourth quarter I thought we took two bad 3's where we just didn't have to, and we never got the ball to the basket first," Vaughan said. "That's things you look at and you learn from and that same possession next game we'll play better."

Central managed to cut it to 51-47 on a Statam free throw and appeared to have a chance to cut it to a one possession game when Kennett senior Antavies Davis missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with just under two minutes remaining.

The Tigers corralled the rebound but Akeem Nelson stripped the ball and laid it in for an easy basket to stretch the lead to 53-47.

Central managed to trade baskets and took advantage of missed free throws by the Indians before the timeout from Church.

"Drew does a great job of teaching the game, and if we didn't capitalize on an offensive possession they'd come down and run a nice set or get the look they needed for that possession," Vaughan said. "You have to give credit to Cape for what they were doing against us."

Kennett manhandled the Tigers on the offensive glass to open the game but only had a 16-15 lead to show for it.

Kennett missed nine shots in all in the opening quarter but consistently snagged offensive rebounds for easy putbacks.

"The first quarter we were so worried about penetration and helping when the shot went up we forgot to rebound," Church said. "That hurt us early, they got some offensive putbacks. I think we did a better job later on in the second quarter and second half with that."

The two teams mostly traded blows throughout the opening half before Kennett opened a 30-19 lead early in the second quarter.

The Indians made their first five shots in the second quarter; two of them 3-points and opened an 11-point lead with 5 minutes 14 seconds remaining.

"We just turned it up," Kennett guard Kevonte Mitchell said. "We had to turn it up. We weren't moving. We weren't really getting good shots. So coach told us start making better shot selections and we did."

The Tigers clamped down and forced Kennett to miss six of its last seven shots to cut the lead to 33-31 at the half.

Mitchell was his usual self, pouring in a game-high 25 points, but his running mate, Materion Jones proved to be a crucial piece for the Indians.

Jones netted 16 points, 10 in the opening half to provide an offensive boost for Kennett.

"Materion stepped up a ton tonight," Vaughan said. "He was just active, he sought the ball out on offensive rebounds and got looks there, made a couple of tough shots for us. He was kind of a senior leader by example tonight."

The Tigers managed to hang in the game despite an poor job handling the ball and a silent second half from their star forward Jamal Cox.

Cox finished with 17 points but only had four after the half and fouled out with 4 minutes 34 seconds remaining.

The senior was bottled up the majority of the night and the Tigers' guards failed to provide much relief offensively.

"One thing we have to get better at is our guards have to quit playing scared because they are taking away our bigs and get to the basket or make a shot," Church said. "Until we can do that we're going to struggle a little bit."

Statam filled the offensive role admirably in Cox's absence by netting a team-high 21 points, 13 coming in the second half.

Kennett advanced to face second-seeded Jackson tonight in a semifinal at 8:30 p.m. while the Tigers will face Poplar Bluff at 5:30 p.m. in a consolation game.

"There are so many things we need to work on, and I told them I'm not even upset with you right now," Church said.

Kennett 16 17 12 12 -- 57

Central 15 16 12 9 -- 52

KENNETT (57) -- Antavies Davis 2, Materion Jones 16, Kevonte Mitchell 25, Akeem Nelson 7, Andre Oliver 4, Landon Vaughan 2, Jad Kenny 1. FG 22, FT 9-19. (3-pointers: Jones 2, Mitchell 2. Fouled out: none)

CENTRAL (52) -- Mikey Jones 4, Andre Statam 21, Jalen Reddin 5, Al Young 2, Jamal Cox 17, Chase Haggerty 1, Nikylus Thompson 2. FG 20, FT 11-19. (3-pointers: Reddin. Fouled out: Cox)