Menu
Kennett girls storm past Malden 54-27 in C3D1 basketball quarterfinal
Kennett's Caroline Patton (left) is chased by Malden's Ally Hoehn in a Class 3, District 1 girls basketball quarterfinal Saturday at New Madrid County Central High School.
NEW MADRID, Mo. - The Kennett Indians varsity girls basketball team moved one step closer to a repeat district championship Saturday afternoon.
Malden's No. 3 Aylexus Leshay and Shamya Dobbins (right) go after a rebound in a Class 3, District 1 girls basketball quarterfinal Saturday at New Madrid County Central High School.
No. 4. seeded Kennett jumped out to a 10-0 lead four minutes into the first quarter and never trailed after as it beat the No. 5 seeded Malden Green Wave 54-27 in a Class 3, District 1 quarterfinal at New Madrid County Central High School.
Kennett's Tyneshia Wilson drives past Malden's Madison Mittag (back) in a Class 3, District 1 girls basketball quarterfinal Saturday at New Madrid County Central High School.
“If you can get one in the first round that allows you to keep everyone rested and get a lot of players in it’s definitely beneficial,” Kennett coach Kevin McCaig said. “We got off to a hot start and made a couple open shots early. We lost focus a couple times and we have to fix that because that cannot happen Monday night. We’ve just got to find a way to continue to win and move on going forward like we did today.”
Malden, which dressed only six players, provided ball pressure most of the way but struggled to find offense. The Green Wave managed to cut an early double digit deficit to 13-7 by the end of the first quarter but failed to score again before halftime. Kennett outscored Malden 15-0 in the second period to build a 28-7 lead by the start of the third quarter and led by at least 19 points throughout the second half.
“The bottom line is we couldn’t score on the offensive end,” Malden coach Josh Herring said. “We were in it on defense but just couldn’t score. We’ve got a bunch of young kids that are still trying to learn and grow. We did some good things but just weren’t consistent with it. But that’s one thing you get with a young group. One thing we are going to have to learn moving forward is how to get better at handling pressure.”
Kennett freshman forward Caroline Patton fueled her team’s second quarter surge. Patton recorded eight of her 15 points in the second period and knocked down a 3-pointer in the first quarter.
“She had a good first half,” McCaig said. “She’s in a role where we are trying to get her to learn to be a stretch four and pull out and shoot the ball like you see from a post player in the college and NBA. She was a guard in seventh grade and has grown about six inches since. She’s still developing and learning how to finish around the rim, but she’s definitely progressed. We are going to need her and a couple girls to help us out. We’ve got to find a way to put the ball in the hole and she’s definitely one that has the ability to help us do that.”
Senior center Kayton Harris paced Kennett with 17 points. She hit five 2-pointers and made seven of eight free throw attempts.
Senior forward Tyneshia Wilson also finished in double digits with 11 points. She recorded seven points in the fourth quarter.
Senior guard Aylexus Leshay paced Malden with 10 points. She made both of the Green Wave’s 3-pointers.
Malden finishes its season with a record of (12-12). It won the Bootheel Conference regular season title and finished second in the Bootheel Conference Tournament.
“I’m tickled to death with them," Herring said. "We know what we need to work on going forward to get better than what we are right now.”
Malden graduates two seniors - Aylexus Leshay and Ally Hoehn.
“I’m really proud of those two girls,” Herring said. “They’ve done a tremendous job. Ally tore her ACL last year so for her to bounce back after that and play this year without any bumps in the road was great. Aylexus gave her heart out on the floor every game since the fifth grade and she deserved a whole lot more than what she got. But she was selected all-conference and will hopefully make all-district as well.”
Kennett (10-15) will play Portageville for a third time this season in a district semifinal Monday at New Madrid County Central. The game time has been moved from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Monday to avoid a scheduling conflict.
No. 1 seeded Portageville (16-11) beat No. 8 seeded Caruthersville 63-38 in its district quarterfinal Saturday.
Kennett beat Portageville 53-44 on Dec. 7 and 43-34 on Dec. 16.
“They are big and experienced,” McCaig said. “We had some success against them earlier in the year but that was in December. We will get in the gym on Sunday and come up with a good game plan and hopefully execute it well on Monday.”
No. 4 Kennett 54, No. 5 Malden 27
MHS 7 0 6 14 - 27
KHS 13 15 8 18 - 54
MALDEN (27) - Shamya Dobbins 6, Aylexus Leshay 10, Madison Mittag 2, Ally Hoehn 5, Madison Saulsbery 4. FG 12, FT 19, F 19. (3-pointers: Leshay 2; Fouled out: Mittag).
KENNETT (54) - Katara Raiford 3, Marsiah Nelson 2, Kayton Harris 17, Janesha Hubbard 2, Tyneshia Wilson 11, Caroline Patton 15, Meagan Pickens 4. FG 19, FT 14/25, F 15. (3-pointers: Pickens 1, Patton 1; Fouled out: None).
Malden's Madison Saulsbery is guarded by Kennett's Janesha Hubbard in a Class 3, District 1 girls basketball quarterfinal Saturday at New Madrid County Central High School.