NEW MADRID, Mo. -- The Kennett Lady Indians' drought in the SEMO Conference is over.

Playing in their final game as a member of the league, the Lady Indians used a strong second half to shock the New Madrid County Central Lady Eagles 56-49 here Tuesday night.

In area boys' basketball games, it was Malden 69, Twin Rivers 54; Bernie 80, Holcomb 43; and Campbell 52, Neelyville 50.

The win was the fourth in the last six games for the Lady Tribe (4-15, 1-6 SEMO) who started the season 0-13.

"This ballgame was indicative of how well our girls can play," Kennett coach Casey Bunting said. "They did everything right tonight. Our pressure caused turnover after turnover and we were able to make things happen on the offensive end of the court."

Said Kennett junior Hope Sparks: "It was very exciting to get a big SEMO Conference win. We were not expected to beat the Eagles, but we went out on the court and played as a team."

Kennett also got a huge game from Sparks, who scored a team-high 15 points and was a force in the third quarter, as the Lady Indians outscored NMCC 16-9 to erase a 24-20 halftime deficit.

"Hope had a huge game for us tonight," said Bunting. "She kept scoring for us. She really played well tonight."

Sparks was joined in double figures for Kennett by freshman Jerica Wheeler, who added 12 points in the win.

"I'm proud of the girls this season," Bunting said, "all the improvements they have made and how they continue to work and get better even when the season was tough."

Tameika Williams paced the Lady Eagles with 20 points, while Shameika Williams added 19 in the loss.

The Lady Tribe faces the daunting task of knocking off Class 3 power Portageville Saturday, but after back-to-back wins, hopes to be up to the task.

"Our season started out rocky but the last few games have shown that teamwork is the key," Sparks said. "Hopefully we will come out on fire for our district game Saturday."

Boys
Bernie 80, Holcomb 43
At Holcomb, the visiting Mules came out on fire by draining six of their first eight 3-pointers to spoil Senior Night for the Hornets.

Bernie outscored the host team 33-15 in the second quarter to take a 55-26 lead to the break and never looked back.

In his final regular season home game, Heath Murdock scored 16 for Holcomb.

"It was a tough night," said Holcomb coach Seth McBroom after the loss. "They are a good team and played pretty well tonight I thought. I really appreciate our seniors and everything they've done here."

The two teams will meet again at Holcomb in the first round of the Class 2, District 1 Tournament on Saturday.