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Red hot Kelly wins sixth game in-a-row against East Prairie
EAST PRAIRIE, Mo – With just a week to go before the postseason, Kelly continued their recent winning streak against host East Prairie on Friday.
Spoiling the Eagles homecoming, the Hawks got a game-high 21 points from Gavin Jansen to help down East Prairie 72-52 for the team’s sixth win in a row.
“We picked up another win,” Kelly head coach Fred Johnson said. “But we have to get the same attitude we had last week. Every team wants to win on their homecoming, so give East Prairie credit.
“They worked hard and kept us off balance for a while. We weren’t working as hard as they were, and they were out-playing us. It was a good homecoming game.”
Neither team could get separation early, continuing to swap leads until late in the first quarter.
East Prairie (7-14) built their best lead of the night, 14-10, with 2:32 left in the frame only to see a 10-2 Kelly rally to end the quarter see the Hawks (16-9) take control of the game.
From that point on, Kelly kept the Eagles in their rearview, building a 40-30 advantage going into halftime.
Another strong finish to the third quarter, a 7-2 run, pushed the Hawks lead to 14 points entering the fourth.
Kelly put together their best quarter of the night in the fourth, holding the Eagles to just a pair of buckets.
After Harrison Moore opened the frame with a put-back for the Eagles, the Hawks reeled off seven-straight points as part of a 13-3 run that effectively iced the game.
“We knew this year they’d be better,” East Prairie head coach Casey Knight said of Kelly. “A year older, a year stronger and a year more experienced. They’ve been on a roll lately.
“It was a battle, and for the most part, I was proud of our offense effort. We’d liked to have scored more than 50 points, but we worked on offense and got the shots we needed to get, didn’t always make them.”
Moore led the Eagles with 14 points, including a 10-point first quarter. Jack Scruggs and Jase Aycock scored 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Jansen’s big night started with a 12-point first quarter, as he finished with 21 points. Joel McClain and Drew Dirnberger added 13 points each to the cause, and Devin Heuring was the fourth Hawk in double-digits with 10 points.
“We were letting them get to the basket too quick in the offense they were running,” Johnson said. “It’s not that we didn’t know how to defend it. It’s just like pulling teeth sometimes. You revert to young kids you have playing, but I’m not going to offer excuses.
“We’re playing a varsity schedule, so they have to step it up. Overall I’m pleased with some of the effort we had because we did have some good moments.”
Kelly has one more tuneup before the Class 3, District 2 Tournament next weekend. They’ll host Bell City (2-17) on Tuesday.
East Prairie finished their regular season with a home game against Malden Tuesday and a road game against South Pemiscot on Thursday.
| Kelly | 22 | 18 | 19 | 13 | – | 72 |
| E. Prairie | 17 | 13 | 15 | 7 | – | 52 |
KELLY (72) – Joel McClain 13, Devin Heuring 10, Bryce Morgan 9, Drew Dirnberger 13, Gavin Jansen 21, Jay Noon 6. FG 30, FT 7-12, F 12. (3-pointers: McClain 1, Heuring 2, Morgan 1, Jansen 1. Fouled out: none.)
EAST PRAIRIE (52) – Jase Aycock 10, Jack Scruggs 12, Evan Howell 7, Harrison Moore 14, Garrison Scott 9. FG 21, FT 7-12, F 12. (3-pointers: Scruggs 2, Howell 1. Fouled out: none.)