HAYTI, Mo. -- Thus far in this 2007-2008 basketball season, not many area teams have been able to solve the puzzle that is the Hayti Indians. However, the Kennett Indians managed to do this for the second time this year with their 62-51 victory over top-seeded Hayti in the semifinals of the Bootheel Conference tournament Saturday night.

This victory may have been even more impressive than the first, considering it took place on Hayti's homecourt.

Junior guard Jarvis Finley grabbed the momentum early for Kennett by draining a pair of 3-pointers in the games opening minutes as Kennett started the game on an 8-2 run. Strong inside play from center William Cooper helped Hayti weather the storm as they cut the Kennett lead to two points (15-13) by the end of the quarter.

Kennett dominated the second quarter as its zone defense continued to confuse the typically explosive Hayti attack.

"We gambled a lot with our zone tonight," Kennett coach Jim Vaughan said. "I thought we rebounded better tonight than we have in a long time."

Kennett was also impressive on offense in the second period as seven different players scored in the frame as the Indians took a commanding 33-22 lead into halftime.

Hayti came out of the locker room on fire in the third quarter by playing stifling man-to-man defense holding Kennett to just eight points on the quarter. Hayti used a balanced attack on the offensive end to pull back to within two points as Kennett led 41-39 going into the final quarter.

Finley took over for Kennett in the fourth quarter by going 5-for-5 from the free-throw line, while scoring nine points on the quarter on his way to leading all scorers with a total of 19 points.

Meanwhile, Cameron Conder and Blake Parr came up big on the boards for Kennett down the stretch, while Tevin Hampton put the game on ice for good with a minute left to play as he knocked down a pair of free throws to make it a three-possession game.

Joining Finley in double figures for Kennett were Randrick Caruthers and Trey Abmeyer with 10 points apiece.

Kennett seemed to have a slight edge in nearly every category as its bench outscored Hayti's reserves 24-21, while outshooting Hayti from the free-throw line by going 8-for-10. Hayti finished 7-for-12 from the charity stripe.

On a sidenote, Hayti was playing a bit shorthanded due to the absence of starters Jamestic Gooden and George Hamilton.