Sikeston loses consolation game

BROSELEY -- The Kennett Lady Indians picked up their 10th victory of the season with a 60-44 win over the Sikeston Lady Bulldogs in the consolation game of the 7th Annual Twin Rivers Invitational Tournament Saturday afternoon at Royal Gymnasium. The victory gave the Lady Indians a third place finish in the tournament and Rachel Brown was named to the all-tournament team at the conclusion of the tournament.

Brown led all scores with a game-high 23 points with four critical buckets in the final quarter that helped Kennett overcome a late charge by Sikeston.

Kennett (10-2) behind consistent shooting and rebounding, held a 31-16 advantage at the intermission, but had no idea that the Lady Bulldogs would come out with a fire under them to start the second half. Sikeston head coach Lee Brooks was not satisfied with the performance of his starters so the 12th year coach went to a quicker lineup of sophomores and freshman to change the tempo of the contest.

The young squad stepped up for the Sikeston, outscoring the Lady Indians 22-10 and had trimmed the Kennett lead to 41-38 at the conclusion of three quarters.

"I wasn't happy with the way my starters were performing, so we had to send a little message," Brooks said. "We have a lot of young players on this team with great potential and I was proud the way that hustled and played tonight." The Lady Bulldogs forced three consecutive Kennett turnovers in the fourth quarter and took their first lead of the game at 49-47 with 4:44 showing on the clock. Suzanne Carter answered back for Kennett with an offensive stickback that nodded the game at 49-49 with 4:25 to go. The lead changed hands four times over the last three minutes before Carter found Janeika Martin for a 15-foot jumper that gave Kennett the lead for good. The Sikeston defense collapsed around Tori Harrell and she found Brown open underneath to extend the lead to 58-53 with 2:14 left in the game. Carter broke the Sikeston press, finding a streaking Brown for an open-court layup that place the exclamation point on the game.

Carter, Kennett's main offensive stimulus, finished with a double-double, netting 14 while finishing with a game-high 10 assists in the process.

Sikeston (6-4) had three players to score in double-figures with Allison Burton, Latoya Gipson, and Whitney McCray scoring 10 each in the losing effort.

Kennett's effort on the glass paid off, coming out with a 34-28 edge in the rebound column. The Lady Indians were more patient and shot 28-of-57 (49 percent) whereas, the Lady Bulldogs ended the contest, shooting 23-of-56 (41 percent).

Scoring for Kennett included: Rachel Brown (23), Suzanne Carter (14), Tori Harrell (9), Janeika Martin (8), Shalena White (2), Patricia Pfiffer (2), and Monica Duckworth (2). Scoring for Sikeston included: Allison Burton (10, Latoya Gipson (10), Whitney McCray (10), Nyketia Johnson (6), Amber Anthony (6), Mia Welch (6), Ebony Collins (2), Robyn Morris (2), and Tiarra Blackman (2). Sikeston concluded with a 9-for-11 (81 percent) effort at the charity-stripe.