Kennett girls basketball survives late rally by Holcomb 39-35

Photo by Dustin Ward, staff
Holcomb's Hannah Burk (35) and Kennett's Macy New (10) eye a rebound in a varsity girls basketball game Tuesday at Kennett High School.

KENNETT - It took a late defensive stand but the Kennett Indians varsity girls basketball squad found a way to escape with a home victory against the Holcomb Hornets Tuesday night.

Holcomb rallied from a dozen down to get as close as 37-35 with 2:26 remaining. But the Indians defense got the stops it needed late.

Kennett scored the only field goal in the final two minutes of regulation as it beat nearby rival Holcomb 39-35.

“Tonight was a little different than the Dexter game last week,” Kennett coach Aaron New said. “In the Dexter game we kind of found a way to lose. Tonight, we did what we had to do to win. Maybe we learned a little bit in the Dexter game last week and used what we learned to finish out this game tonight.”

Holcomb trailed 33-21 with 1:47 left in the third quarter before it came surging back. The Hornets scored the final six points of the third quarter to trim Kennett’s lead to 33-27 by the start of the fourth quarter.

Holcomb narrowed the margin as close as two twice in the fourth quarter and had a couple chances to get even closer. The Hornets missed a go-ahead 3-pointer that would have put them up one with 1:35 remaining and a game-tying 2-pointer with 1:13 left.

Kennett’s Kaniya Madlock followed the missed by draining a 2-pointer with 45 seconds left to set the final score.

“We just didn’t take control of the game when we should have tonight,” Holcomb coach Alexa Stockton said. “We had so many opportunities. They literally did everything we wanted them to do. They threw up quick shots and turned the ball over. We just didn’t take advantage of their mistakes. That’s pretty much what it boiled down to.”

Things started well for the Hornets. Holcomb built a 9-2 lead by the 3:11 mark of the first quarter and led by as much as 19-11 with 4:30 left in the first half.

But Kennett erased all of its trouble by halftime. The Indians, which extended its pressure defense beyond half court in the final four minutes of the second quarter, closed out the first half on an 11-0 run to move ahead 22-19 at the break.

“We got in some foul trouble in the first quarter,” New said. “We wanted to just try to stay close to them until we could get into our press. Once we got into our press we got the momentum and we were able to pull ahead.”

Holcomb scored the only field goal in the first three-plus minutes of the second half to trim Kennett’s lead to 22-21. But Kennett followed with its second 11-0 run of the night to take its largest lead of the game at 33:21 with 1:47 left in the third quarter.

“To be honest we just lost our minds going up against their press,” Stockton said. “Instead of making easy passes we tried to make a hard pass and a 7-point shot and those don’t happen in basketball. But hopefully we can use tonight as a learning experience."

Photo by Dustin Ward, staff
Kennett's Caroline Patton is guarded by Holcomb's Macy Houart Tuesday night.

Senior forward Caroline Patton put up a team-high 17 points for Kennett. Patton made a pair of 2-pointers and 3-pointers in each half and knocked down 3 of 10 free throws.

Madlock also scored in double digits for Kennett with 11 points. The senior guard made five 2-point buckets and a free throw.

Senior forward Bailey Cupples scored a game-high 20 points for Holcomb. Cupples recorded three field goals in the paint and drained eight of a dozen free throw attempts.

Kennett (8-7) is back in action Thursday when it hosts state-ranked Twin Rivers.

“We will put in our game plan for Twin Rivers at practice on Wednesday and try to defend our home court again Thursday night,” New said of going up against the No. 8 ranked squad in Class 3.

Holcomb (9-5) continues its quest to finish Bootheel Conference play perfect when it hosts Senath-Hornersville Thursday night.

“We want to win our final three conference games so hopefully we can use tonight’s game to make us better in conference play moving forward,” Stockton said.

Kennett 39, Holcomb 35

HHS 11 8 8 8 - 35

KHS 7 15 11 6 - 39

HOLCOMB (35) - Macy Houart 7, Bailey Cupples 20, Selena Burress 7, Hannah Burk 1. FG 12, FT 9/18, F 14. (3-pointers: Houart 1,Burress 1; Fouled out: Cupples).

KENNETT (39) - Macy New 3, Katara Pittman 2, Caroline Patton 17, Anelle Harris 4, Kaniya Madlock 11, Ara Speilman 2. FG 16, FT 5/17, F 16. (3-pointers: Patton 2; Fouled out: None).

Photo by Dustin Ward, staff
Holcomb's Bailey Cupples is guarded by Kennett's Ara Spielman in a varsity girls basketball game Tuesday night at Kennett High School.