New Madrid County Central eliminates Kennett for shot at SEMO consolation champions

SIKESTON, Mo. - The New Madrid County Central boys basketball team picked up their first win of the season at the SEMO Conference tournament on Wednesday, Dec. 11.

The 64-48 victory over the Kennett Indians granted NMCC a bid to play in the consolation championship.

Although the Eagles started the season slowly, 0-5, head coach Dontre Jenkins saw his players' full potential.

“Our guys finally put four quarters together,” Jenkins said. “We’re young and mistakes are bound to happen in the game, but our players took care of the ball and we had guys making shots tonight.”

While the Eagles outscored Kennett, Jenkins said their second-half defense was the biggest factor in their first win of the season.

In the first half, Kennett kept the game close with the efforts of senior Dyson Watson.

The Eagles struggled to cool Watson off, as he scored 11 points off of five made field goals and shot 100% from the free-throw line.

Watson would finish the first half in double-digits, scoring 15 of Kennett’s 28 points.

“Kennett was having their way with us early in the game,” Jenkins said. “We made some adjustments at halftime to shut them down.”

Freshman Jayden Williams was tasked with guarding Kennett’s top scorer in the second half.

With Williams’ efforts, Watson was held to only four points in the third quarter and scoreless in the fourth.

“Coach just told me to stay close to him,” Williams said. “He’s good. He’s really good, I’m not gonna lie. We knew we had to shut him down because he was doing everything in the first half.”

While his defensive efforts on Watson limited Kennett’s scoring, Williams also came away with 12 second-half points to carry the Eagles to victory.

The battle between the two guards forced Williams to match Watson in scoring. Both players led their teams with 19 total points.

“We knew it was going to be a hard game,” Williams said. “We knew we had to play hard and be tough and close it out. We’ve all wanted this win and have been working for it. I think we just wanted it more at the end.”

While the freshman guard led his team, fellow freshman Tyce Palmer also added 11 points. He led the team from behind the arch, making three three-pointers.

Sophomore Jaden Guest-Newsome put up 17 points as NMCC’s second-leading scorer and senior Ra’Mond Brooks finished with 10 points.

For Kennett, as Watson led, fellow senior Hayden Gilmore had 13 points while sophomore Antonio Flakes finished with 11.

The Eagles move up to 1-5 on their season and will face the Poplar Bluff Mules in the consolation game on Friday, Dec. 13 at 5:30 p.m.

Jenkins is looking for his guys to fight just as hard as they did against Kennett.

“Poplar Bluff will be aggressive,” Jenkins told his team. “They are going to play hard defense, try and interrupt our offense and get up in us defensively. We just gotta be strong with the ball and we have to match their defense. Interrupt their plays and find their shooters.”

Kennett, eliminated from the SEMO Conference tournament, will regroup and prepare to host NMCC for their first home game of the season. This game will take place on Tuesday, Dec. 17 at 7:30 p.m.