Jackson routs Kennett to advance to consolation championship of SEMO Conference Tournament

SIKESTON- After an overtime loss at the hands of Poplar Bluff, the Jackson Indians responded with a 66-41 win over the Kennett Indians to advance to the consolation final of the SEMO Conference Tournament.

Jackson got out of the gates on the right foot as they raced out to a 10-1 lead halfway through the first quarter.

“We’ve been having a lot of pressure put on us,” Jackson coach Kory Thoma said. “It was nice to just get out and play basketball and see the kids have fun.”

Kennett wasn’t phased by the hot start from Jackson however as they closed the quarter on a 9-5 run to cut the lead to 15-10 heading into the second quarter.

Jackson was able to expand its lead in the second quarter though as Kole Deck got hot from the field, scoring 7 of his 18 points to pace Jackson.

“Kole is that type of player,” Thoma said. “We’ve got to have somebody since (Blayne) Harris is out step into that role. Kole is learning a role and I think he’s grabbing it and doing a good job with it.”

Jackson’s lead ballooned quickly as the third quarter began as the Indians kept scoring while also getting stops on defense.

“We weren’t walling up defensively on the dribble drives in the first half,” Thoma said. “We talked about if we could contest those dribble drives we could go play on the other end a lot easier.”

Jackson outscored Kennett 20-12 in the third quarter to take a 49-31 lead into the final quarter of play.

Perhaps one of the biggest keys for Jackson was holding Kennett to one shot offensively as they did a good job of controlling the boards.

“We had the height advantage,” Thoma said. “We knew that we had to crash.”

Jackson is continuing to figure things out while playing without their leading scorer Blayne Harris.

“Obviously you don’t plan for the injury,” Thoma said. “It’s going to take time but we saw some positives tonight.”

Following up Deck’s 18-point night was Judd Thoma who scored 16 points from all different areas of the floor.

“He had a good game tonight after last night’s game where he struggled a bit,” Thoma said. “He understands his role too and I think he played a good game tonight.”

On the opposing end, Kennett was led by D’Shun Wilson who had 16 points in the loss.

Kennett (3-3) has over a week off before returning to the court at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 15, when the Indians host Charleston at Kennett High School.

Jackson (2-3) awaits the winner of Notre Dame and Charleston in the consolation final of the SEMO Conference Tournament. That game is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 8, at Sikeston Field House.

“We’ve got to trust ourselves, trust our teammates and trust each other,” Thoma said. “If we do that continually on every possession and build off tonight, we have a good chance.”