It may have taken a day longer than they would have liked, but the Kennett Lady Indians are finally in the win column.

One day after suffering a narrow loss to Sikeston, the Lady Tribe put together a dominating second half to take a 57-21 win over the Risco Lady Tigers Tuesday afternoon at Kennett High School.

The win was the first of the season for Kennett (1-13), who also snapped a 19-game losing streak that dated back nearly a year.

Staff photo by Mike Buhler Kennett's Jessie Greenway (left) and Hope Sparks (right) trap Risco's Marylyn Dickens during the first half of Tuesday's high school girls' basketball game at Kennett High School. Kennett won 57-21 to earn its first win of the season and snap a 19-game losing streak. [Click to enlarge]

"It felt great to get a win on the varsity level," Kennett coach Casey Bunting said. "My girls have been working so hard and our team is finally starting to gel. We played a tough, close game against Sikeston last night and everyone did an outstanding job -- everyone did their part (Monday). Today we came out against Risco and were ready for our win."

The Lady Indians also got a huge game from Hope Sparks, who scored a game-high 18 points, only three less than Risco had as a team.

"Hope Sparks had a huge game -- 18 points," said Bunting. "The exciting thing about the past few games is that everyone is dropping points. That is good news -- we need to work on our scoring and it is a benefit to have four or five girls scoring rather than one or two."

Staff photo by Mike Buhler Kennett's Veronica Amos (left) goes to the basket against Risco's Brittany Burnett during Tuesday's high school girls' basketball game at Kennett High School. Kennett won 57-21, outscoring the Lady Tigers 35-9 after halftime. [Click to enlarge]

Indeed, while Sparks was the only Kennett player in double figures, the Lady Tribe also got nine points from Jessie Greenway, eight from Jerica Wheeler and six each from Allyson Luce and Veronica Amos.

Kennett's depth was also a factor Tuesday, as the Lady Indians were able to wear down a Risco squad that had just six players.

Kennett led 22-12 at the break and just 28-17 midway through the third quarter before turning on the afterburners, outscoring the Lady Tigers 29-4 over the last quarter and a half.

The Lady Indians are back in action Saturday afternoon when they host SEMO Conference foe Cape Central in a 1 p.m. game at KHS.

"We are improving with each practice and each game," Bunting said. "This win today will hopefully spark the girls a little and help them be proud of all the hard work they are putting in. I have been very pleased with our effort the last few games. We continue to meet tough teams and these girls continue to try to improve -- that effort alone speaks so highly of their character."

Notes: Kennett's last win before Tuesday was February 5, 2007, against Senath-Hornersville in the first round of the Bootheel Conference Tournament at Portageville. ... Sparks has scored in double figures in back-to-back games.