Kennett girls shut down Malden in second new year victory

The Kennett Lady Indians basketball team is starting the new year with a hot start after defeating Kelly (7-4) Tuesday and Malden (5-6) Thursday night. Charged by a powerhouse of a defensive effort, Kennett took an early lead over the Green Wave and pushed their momentum to the end for a decisive 57-28 victory.

“It started in the Christmas tournament,” Kennett head coach Aaron New said. “We came back from the break, had five really good practices, and I thought 'well, we're starting to get better.' We played well against Kelly and we played well against a big, strong, good Malden team tonight.”

The Bootheel rivals held in closely through the first quarter, Kennett scoring just three points more than Malden, until the Indians made a breakaway in the second.

After the Green Wave struck first with two layups by both Rachel Rommel and Jada Townsend, it wasn't until the game tied 11-11 that the Indians took a lead that they wouldn't relinquish. Paced largely by senior Taleigh Harrell and freshman Tayja Carter, Kennett went into halftime up 33-19.

Scoring in the second half never wavered for Kennett, but it did spread out more evenly across the board. Perhaps more noticeable was the rhythm Kennett's press found in stealing away any opportunity for Malden to make an attempt at a comeback.

“At first, our press was a little bit sloppy not rotating well and gave up a couple easy baskets,” New said. “But as the game went on we started rotating better. You can press any time as long as you don't give up layups, and our pressure turns up when Aneike Farmer gets in the game.”

Kennett sophomore Aneike Farmer (10) takes a shot around Malden defenders Thursday night.Christian Johnson, Delta Dunklin Democrat

The Indians' 24 points scored in the second half were contributed nearly equally by all six players who spent time on the court, none of which scored more than four points on their own in either the third or fourth quarters.

A layup by Kennett junior Jayla Moore took the Indians' lead to the 20 point threshold with five minutes remaining in the third quarter. That margin would hold into the four as Malden sophomore Mariah Loya sank a 3-point shot on the buzzer marking the end of the third quarter.

For Kennett's defense, it doesn't get any better than what they accomplished in the fourth quarter in holding Malden scoreless while they added nine more to their total. The Indians racked up seven team fouls in the second half, but they also marched the ball right back down the court on multiple occasions.

Upon slowing the tempo late in the fourth quarter, with one more layup by senior Lani Heeb the Indians won 57-28.

“57 points is a lot for us,” New said. “We've only scored 60 two times since I've been the coach, so 57 for us is like scoring 100. And it was evenly balanced. If we can get that and play defense the way we've been playing then it's going to be successful for us.”

With a clear goal and vision in mind, the win left Kennett with the boost of morale needed to take on Campbell on Saturday hosted by TRC in Poplar Bluff beginning at 3:30 p.m.

“It's a good start for us,” New said. “We set our goal to get three wins this week and we've got two of those now. We have Campbell on Saturday and we're going to treat it like it's the biggest game of the year.”

Kennett was led in scoring by Taleigh Harrell with 19 points, followed by Tayja Carter with 12, Lani Heeb with 8, Jayla Moore with 8, Aneike Farmer with 5 and Sophie Boone with 5.

Jada Townsend led Malden in scoring with 8 points, followed by Angela Dobbins with 7, Brydon Maddox with 6, Rachel Rommel with 4 and Mariah Loya with 3.

Malden will travel to Senath-Hornersville on Monday with junior varsity play beginning at 6 p.m.