SEMO Conference: Kennett drives past Dexter in opener

Kennett utilized a balanced offense to methodically pull away from Dexter in its opening game of the SEMO Conference Boy’s Basketball Tournament on Monday at the Sikeston Field House, as the Indians won 56-41 in a match-up of the number 8 (Kennett) and 9 seeds.

“We’re showing up every day,” first-year Indian coach Fred Garmon said following the win. “Obviously, we’ll have tough days. We have good days, but we keep showing up and for the guys who are here with me, I appreciate them a lot.”

Garmon, a former Indian player himself, has constructed an offense that consists of athletic drives to the rack, which caused the Bearcats (1-2) issues all game long, but Kennett also buried six 3-pointers. That balance forced the Dexter defenders to get out on the perimeter just enough that it created gaps to drive into and score, or at least, draw fouls.

“We’ve got to do better at helping off the ball on defense,” Bearcat senior center Ethan Zabelin said following the loss. “We’ve got to close up the gaps and stop letting teams penetrate to the basket.”

That inability to contain drivers was a problem late in the Bearcats’ recent road win at Malden and continued on Monday.

Both teams entered the tournament in a defensive mindset, as they scored a combined 15 points in the first quarter, and Kennett (3-1) led 26-21 at halftime.

Garmon had mixed emotions in assessing his defense. At times, he wasn’t pleased, but overall, holding Dexter to a season-low 41 points, he couldn’t find too much fault.

“I wasn’t,” Garmon said of being happy with his team’s defense initially. “After watching (Dexter vs. Malden), we knew that they could score, but we felt good about our defense.

“(Bearcat coach Chad Allen) has been doing a great job on both sides, the boys and the girls for a very long time. I have the utmost respect for Coach Allen, but I think our guys ended up guarding well.”

The Indians got a big offensive night out of junior D’Shun Wilson, who produced well in the third quarter, as Kennett stretched its margin.

The Indians outscored Dexter 17-9 in that period, as Wilson scored 10 of his team-high 18 points during that stretch.

“(Wilson) is a cat that I’ve been around since the third grade,” Garmon said. “He means a lot to me, not only on the floor but off it also.”

Wilson had four of his team’s six 3-pointers while Kennett senior Zy’Kerrion Taylor added 15 points, including seven of those in the final quarter, to help seal the win.

Indian senior Cooper Henfling and sophomore Ashton Dismukes chipped in eight points apiece in the win.

Zabelin continued his very strong start to his final season, as he led the Bearcats with 19 points.

Sophomore forward Devin Turnbo added 10 points for Dexter while sophomore Carter Stone sank a couple of 3-pointers to finish with six points.

The Bearcats will face No. 7-seed Notre Dame (0-2) today at 8:30 p.m. in an elimination game.

“We’ll have to get out on their shooters,” Zabelin said of defending the Bulldogs, “and we’ll have to crash the boards. They have some tall guys.”

Kennett will have to deal with top-seed Sikeston (3-0) today at 7 p.m.