PORTAGEVILLE, Mo. -- It was an all to familiar story for the Kennett Indians against the New Madrid County Central Eagles.

After suffering a 61-49 loss to NMCC last Tuesday because of a fourth-quarter run, the Tribe was outscored by 12 points in the third quarter here Saturday and suffered another 61-49 loss to New Madrid in the first round of the Class 3, District 1 Tournament.

At the Class 2, District 1 boys' tourney at Holcomb, No. 2 Bernie routed host Holcomb 78-43 while top-seeded Hayti downed Senath-Hornersville.

In a Class 3, District 1 girls contest, top-seeded Portageville routed the Lady Indians 65-29.

In the boys' game, Kennett (10-14) led 22-21 at the half, but was outscored 22-10 in the third period as the Eagles entered the final period with a 43-32 edge.

By contrast, NMCC used a 12-0 run in the fourth quarter to seal Tuesday's victory.

"Our focus was to better our offensive movement coming out of halftime (Saturday) and we did that early," Kennett coach Jim Vaughan said, "then New Madrid really clamped down defensively and made it tough on us all the time."

The Indians once again struggled to contain Kony Ealy, who scored 17 points and added several dunks on the night.

"You could tell coming out of halftime that they had one thing in mind and that was to let him touch the ball every trip," said Vaughan. "He's definitely a force with the ball."

The Tribe led 14-5 after one period, but New Madrid rallied in the second quarter to cut the Kennett lead to one at the half.

"We really didn't move well offensively, but we made shots in the first half," Vaughan said. "Tevin Hampton really kept us in the game in the first half."

Lance Price added 13 for the Eagles, while Dontre Jenkins and Josh Minner also chipped in 12 apiece.

Kennett was led by Hampton with 20 points and five 3-pointers. Jimmy Gooden had 11.

Despite the disappointing end to the season, the future looks bright for the Indians. Kennett's 10 wins were a six-game improvement over last season and will graduate just one senior from Saturday's roster.

"We're ready to put in the time in the offseason," said Vaughan. "We've got kids excited and eager to go to work. We'll do a lot of playing in the offseason. The biggest thing we've got to improve is strength. One thing that I told the kids at the end of the game Saturday night is we are developing this 'never quit' attitude, but it's not completely there yet so the more we do in the offseason, the more it comes."

Bernie 78, Holcomb 43
At Holcomb, the Mules took their first step toward winning their first district title in 16 years with a dominating performance against the host Hornets.

Bernie (22-5) led 25-2 after the opening period and never looked back.

"I'm a little surprised at how well we played today," Bernie coach Brad Botsch said afterwards. "We came out of the gate ready to go and the kids didn't let their guard down at all. It would have been easy to do after the emotional and physical game that we played last night, but they bounced right back and were ready to go. We were pleased with how they played."

Silas Dill paced the Mules with 17 points, while Quinton Stevens and Daniel Becking each added 15 and Jake Owens chipped in 13.

Girls
Portageville 65, Kennett 29
The host Lady Bulldogs did not need long to prove to Kennett why they are the second-ranked team in Class 3, jumping to a 28-5 lead over the Lady Indians in the first quarter and never looking back.

"We had a hard time handling their press at the first of the game," Kennett coach Casey Bunting said. "They jumped out ahead and we just couldn't make any progress with them."

Portageville pushed its lead to 44-17 at the intermission and took a 59-23 lead into the final frame.

The Lady 'Dogs were led by Brittney Walker who came away with 28 points while Kellye Penn added 13 and one 3-pointer.

The Lady Indians were led by Sharika Walls with eight points.

With the loss, Kennett ends its season at 4-16, but optimism runs high for the Lady Tribe. Kennett graduates just two seniors from this season's team and won four of its last six regular-season games after an 0-13 start.

"The girls really showed what they're capable of at the end of the season," said Bunting. "We were so pleased with the improvement that they made throughout the year. I can't say enough about their character, willingness to work hard and desire to get better.

"We had two outstanding seniors that were positive leaders throughout the whole season."

The Lady Indians will have just one senior next year, but a boatload of experienced underclassmen.

"We'll still have a young team next year, but we are chock full of experience," Bunting said. "My freshmen and sophomores gained valuable varsity experience this year that will only benefit them next year. Hope (Sparks) is a charismatic player and although she'll be the only senior, I'm positive that she'll be able to lead the team solo."