Jayvee Indians complete perfect run through league with tourney title

Staff photo by Mike Buhler Kennett's Patrick "Dewey" Wallace (front) goes to the basket against a Hayti defender during Monday's Bootheel Conference Tournament junior varsity title game at Hayti. [Click to enlarge]

HAYTI, Mo. -- The Kennett Indians junior varsity squad has had a dominant season, especially against Bootheel Conference opponents.

That trend continued Monday, as the Tribe used a 12-0 run in the fourth quarter to sink Hayti 61-49 in the Bootheel Conference Tournament finals.

With the score tied at 45 midway through the fourth quarter, Kennett ran off 12 straight points to break the game open and remain perfect against Bootheel Conference opponents this season.

"One of our themes of the year has been team discipline," Kennett coach Craig O'Neal said. "I felt like that discipline paid off for us tonight."

Did it ever.

After barely escaping an upset by fifth-seeded Portageville in the semifinals last week, Kennett found itself in another back-and-forth battle with host school Hayti before breaking the game open in the final minutes.

"I think our kids have had a good work ethic all year," said O'Neal. "I want to give (assistant) coach (John) Patton credit for helping us as well. He's been a big asset to our team."

Fred Garmon paced the Tribe with 18 points, while Jamal Gooden added 15 and Cameron Wallace finished with 14.

Keenan Williams scored 11 points to lead Hayti, while Doriyon West chipped in 10.