Jackson boys basketball team falls in opening round of conference tourney

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Expectations for the Jackson Indians have been positive when it comes to seeding them for tournaments.

Jackson was named the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament's top-seed on Sunday night and just 24 hours later went into this year's SEMO Conference Tournament as the No. 2 seed.

Someone forgot to tell that to Kennett.

Second-seeded Jackson was upset by No. 7 Kennett on Monday during the first round of the SEMO Conference Tournament 66-61. It's the second time in as many years the No. 2 seed has fallen in the opening round.

Jackson (0-2) was led by senior Jacob Smith, who had a game-high 25 points. Stephen Irons, another senior, added 10.

Kennett, who entered Monday with an 0-3 record, had four players in double figures. Senior Carlos Turner paced his team with 16, while Rantrell Caruthers, Edward Wilson and Jad Kenny each had 10.

"[Kennett] played so well early and did so many good things offensively, and we didn't guard very well," Jackson coach Darrin Scott said.

Kennett moves on to the championship semifinal round at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at 7:30 p.m., where they'll play No. 3 seed Charleston. Jackson plays No. 9 Dexter today at 8:30 p.m., to decide who plays No. 6 New Madrid County Central in the consolation semifinals.

Defense has been the problem for Jackson thus far. They lost 70-64 to Carbondale, Ill., on Saturday where they gave up 1.05 points per possession. Scott wasn't sure how the numbers looked after Monday's loss, but he wasn't encouraged.

"I'm sure tonight we were God-awful again," he said. "That's going to be our main focus, and we're going to figure it out*...We didn't make the plays we needed to when it got close. We're going to get better at guarding."

Kennett scored with ease in the first half, getting to the basket against a much taller Jackson team. Turner scored 11 of his 16 in the first quarter, mainly in the paint, and led Kennett to a 25-19 lead after the first quarter.

Kennett outscored Jackson again in the second 15-12 and went ahead by as much as 15 points. But a late surge by Jackson made it 40-31 Kennett at halftime.

"We gave up 40 points that first half. That's pretty much the game," Scott said.

Jackson carried over it's late first half boom and rattled off a 10-2 run to cut Kennett's lead to one. Jackson eventually tied the game at 49-all with three minutes left in the third before Kennett ended the frame with a 53-51 lead.

"We just guarded better," Scott said. "Offensively, we got a couple run-outs and a few steals that helped us relax a little bit. I thought we did a better job of slowing down on offense."

Sophomore Pete Lake gave Jackson its first lead, 57-56, since the first quarter with five minutes to go in the fourth after base line jumper. Kennett took back the lead shortly after and went ahead 61-59 with 1:01 remaining.

After Fred Gooden extended Kennett's lead to 62-59 with a free throw, Jackson called a timeout. The ensuing play didn't go as planned as Jacob Friess tried pushing a pass inside but found Kennett's Patrick Maddox instead. Maddox was immediately fouled and hit both free throws with 14 seconds left.

Both teams traded free throws in the final seconds.

Kennett 25 15 13 13 -- 66

Jackson 19 12 20 10 -- 61

KENNETT (66) -- Rantrell Caruthers 10, Carlos Turner 16, Patrick Maddox 7, Fred Gooden 3, Jahaida Childress 4, Ty'Reik Thomas 4, Edward Wilson 10, Jaylean Kinnon 2, Jad Kenny 10. FG 25 FT 12-18 F 19. (3-pointers: Turner 2, Maddox 1, Wilson 1. Fouled out: Gooden.)

JACKSON (61) -- Jacob Friess 4, Garrett Walker 8, Jacob Smith 25, Pete Lake 5, Stephen Irons 10, Cameron Hester 5, Grant Ward 4. FG 21 FT 15-20 F 18. (3-pointers: Walker 2, Smith 1, Lake 1. Fouled out: none.)