Kennett secures narrow senior night win over Senath-Hornersville

Kennett (8-12) started their senior night game against Senath-Hornersville (14-8) on the right track and managed to hold off attempts of a Lion comeback to secure a 56-53 victory Tuesday night.

Bottom line, Kennett forced Senath-Hornersville into “playing Kennett Indian basketball,” which sped up the game and prevented the Lions from finding their rhythm until the end.

“We had to have it,” Kennett head coach Noll Billings said. “It was an absolute must-win and the guys did what they had to do.”

However, as Billings lamented, “it was ugly.” Simple proximity of the teams leads to a heated rivalry, and despite not being district or conference rivals, both love to claim bragging rights every year.

While neither team may have played their best basketball of the season, Kennett struck first and struck fast. Ashton Dismukes pulled away a steal which he passed to Cooper Henfling to sink a three-pointer to open the game. To immediately follow, Daniel Boatman secured his own steal and D’Shun Wilson also put in a three-pointer.

While Senath-Hornersville uncharacteristically struggled to make even layups to start the night, things started to shape up as Rico Gonzalez made a three-point buzzer beater, which led to a 16-10 Kennett advantage.

The second quarter was much closer in intensity and in scoring, Kennett outscoring Senath-Hornersville 12-11 before halftime.

As Kennett led 28-21 at halftime, anything could happen and the Lions were still very much in the running. And that means there is more than enough to discuss during the break.

“It’s like ‘Hey guys, we’re either going to be in a dogfight for another two quarters or we’re going to put them away,’” Billings said. “They’re tough and they kept fighting and made some shots. We had some silly plays and left some guys open.”

Kennett's D'Shun Wilson looks to pass to a teammate while he is guarded by Senath-Hornersville's Spencer Goff Tuesday night. Christian Johnson, Delta Dunklin Democrat

“Early, it looked like we might sneak off on them,” Billings continued. “We got up by 10 or 12, but sure enough they came back.”

Senath-Hornersville narrowed the gap to fewer than five points twice in the third quarter, the first coming from an early pair of free throws shot by Jaxon Layne. A layup by Mason Williams began to cut the Lions’ deficit once again after a brief Kennett run.

“We got some more stops and into the paint more, but we still didn’t shoot very well,” Senath-Hornersville head coach Kurt Penn said. “I think our biggest issue was a lack of focus. We were just so sped up and out of control that we were playing Kennett Indian basketball, which is speeding the game up. We have to slow it down and make sure the fundamentals are right with what we’re doing.”

Williams wasn’t done, though, as he pulled in a steal leading to another layup and a free throw. Taking advantage of the burst of momentum, Layne secured a steal and passed it off to Spencer Goff for another two points to bring the score within four points.

Back to back three-pointers by Kennett’s D’Shun Wilson and Senath-Hornersville’s Pookie Garza set the tone for what was to come in the remaining minutes of the game.

Garza tied the game at 47-47 with just over six minutes left, but Kennett put up four more points immediately after. Rico Gonzalez stripped away the ball and passed to Layne for a layup that brought the margin back to one point with just 30 seconds left on the clock.

Senath-Hornersville's Jaxon Layne moves down the court in Tuesday night's game against Kennett.Christian Johnson, Delta Dunklin Democrat

“It came down to the wire, but it comes down to how we started the game. Getting down double digits like we did early, we just put ourselves in a hole,” Penn said. “There’s going to be nights when you’re not having your best game, but you can’t find yourself in a hole when you’re not making shots. You’ve got to find a way to battle, and tonight I don’t think we gave ourselves a good chance to win.”

Foul trouble in the waning seconds of the game allotted Kennett three trips to the free throw line and led them to a three-point victory as Senath-Hornersville couldn’t fire off a shot to tie.

D’Shun Wilson led Kennett in scoring with 19 points, followed by Blake Raspberry (11), Ashton Dismukes (10), Cooper Henfling (7), Daniel Boatman (5) and Zy Taylor (2).

Senath-Hornersville was paced by Jaxon Layne with 13 points, followed by Amador Luna (10), Spencer Goff (10), Mason Williams (10), Pookie Garza (7) and Rico Gonzalez (3).

Kennett had lost three games in a row, their most recent being to Greenville on Saturday at home. Senath-Hornersville fell to Caruthersville in the Bootheel Conference Tournament semifinals Saturday after taking down Campbell in the opener.

Next, Kennett travels to Poplar Bluff (6-11) Wednesday night while Senath-Hornersville hosts East Carter (10-9) next Monday.