PORTAGEVILLE - Depth, experience and Willie Hassell's 27 points propelled the Portageville Bulldogs to a win in their first outing over the Kennett Indians Friday night 55-51.
The last time the Bulldogs defeated the Indians in the season opener was in December of 1999.
Portageville enjoyed good balance in the contest as seven players dented the scoring column, but only Hassell scored in double digits.
Three Indians reached double figures with Cody Robinson's 19, Alando Edwards' 13 and Dontavis Jones' 11.
The two teams started slowly in the opening period. Kennett jumped out to a 4-0 lead before Hassell found the range and connected on a couple of twos and a trey that gave the Bulldogs their only lead of the quarter at 10-9. Kennett's Cordero Taylor erased that lead with a trey, but Bulldog Antonio Scott knotted the score at 12 at the 10 second mark.
The first quarter was an indication of how the rest of the contest would unfold. The second was played evenly except for a Taylor 3-point buzzer-beater to give the visitors a 28-25 lead at the half.
Portageville, which shot a sub-par 39 percent from the floor, began to find the range in the waning minutes of the third quarter when sophomore Trey Mosby sank a pair of free throws to begin an 8-2 Bulldog run that gave them a 42-35 lead which was the largest of the game for either team.
Kennett got a put-back bucket by Robinson to make the lead 42-37 to end the quarter, but the Bulldogs would enjoy some momentum for the remainder of the game.
The two teams played evenly again in the fourth quarter with Portageville clinging to a slim lead until Kennett's Jones connected on a 3-point bucket to give the Indians a 49-48 lead with just over three minutes left.
It was the last lead for Kennett as the Bulldogs finished the contest on a 7-2 run including a 3-pointer by Cory Chamberlain to clinch the win.
"I was really proud of our juniors that came in and really gave us a boost. Our senior boys are not really in good shape yet and if we hadn't had those guys coming off the bench, we wouldn't have won this game,'' said Portageville coach Jim Bidewell.
The junior Bulldogs handily won the jayvee contest 63-36. Josh Simmons' 14 led Portageville.
Portageville will host the Kelly Hawks on Tuesday.