Dyson Watson's 40-point performance leads Kennett to victory over Malden

KENNETT, Mo. - With just under two minutes left to play in a rivalry matchup against Malden, Kennett’s senior point guard Dyson Watson intercepted a pass at half court.

Driving the ball up the center, Watson would rise for a dunk before taking the bench to close out a 72-51 victory over the Green Wave on Friday, Jan. 31. Watson received a standing ovation for his 40-point performance on the night of Kennett’s Court Warming.

“That felt good,” Watson said. “We had a couple of slow moments during the game, just settling too much for the outside shot but we eventually got back to the rim.”

In the first half, Watson came out of the gates, making almost every shot he threw up. He had 21 points through two quarters with five three-pointers.

This helped put Kennett up 36-21 heading into the locker rooms for halftime.

“I was just focused on my shot,” Watson said. “I could tell the shots were coming, I knew my teammates would see me open and I just stayed ready to shoot.”

The Kennett team cooled off in the third quarter, fortunate for the Green Wave as they started reeling themselves back out of the deficit.

Malden outscored the Indians 20-8 coming out of halftime, limiting Watson to only two points in the third quarter. Sophomore Zion Bell became the ring leader, putting up nine of Malden’s 20 points in the third.

“Tonight was a game we knew was going to be tough,” Kennett’s head coach Seth McBroom said. “Even the kids understood that this Malden team can be scary in their own right. Their bigs gave us some trouble and made some shots making it a little tense in the third.”

After their third-quarter run, Malden only trailed the Indians by three points heading into the final quarter. The score was 44-41.

McBroom decided to switch Kennett’s defense for the fourth quarter in an effort to implement more traps. This successfully led to more defensive hands on the ball, more steals and essentially more breakaway baskets.

Even more so, this led to another scoring spurt by Watson.

His five breakaway layups led to another 10 points. Watson’s final steal resulted in what he called his first ‘official’ dunk during a game.

“It was something I’ve always wanted to do,” Watson said. “It was a big moment for me. I didn’t start growing until my junior year. It was in the back of my head all of those other times, but I finally just committed and there was my first dunk, my first clean dunk at least.”

His first dunk capped off a 40-point game and a 21-point win over their county rivals.

McBroom saluted Watson’s performance and all the work preparing him for this showing.

“He’s a gifted scorer for sure,” McBroom said. “He’s a good guy to have around and he works hard. He got hot in two or three stretches, hitting threes. He got some more points in the fourth when we switched to that trapping defense. That was fun to watch, especially when he got hot.”

Watson would finish with six made three-pointers and was 4-5 from the free-throw line.

Sophomore Antonio Flakes was the second-leading scorer for Kennett with 11 points.

McBroom and his team had a lot of positives from this game. Not only was it a rivalry win, but it was also their second win in a row to cap off the month after facing some difficult teams in January. This concluded their January matches at three wins and four losses.

“January is always hard,” McBroom said. “For this Kennett schedule, January has been brutal. I was proud of the boys for stepping up in the game against Poplar Bluff. Tonight was a game we knew was going to be tough. It’s Kennett and Malden, everybody knows each other. It was good to get a win against our county rival, for sure.”

For the Green Wave, they suffered their 12th loss of the season, still searching for their first win. Along with Bell’s third-quarter performance, freshman Landon DeProw was the team's top scorer with 10 points.

After competing in the Bootheel Conference Tournament, Malden’s next game will be on the road at Scott City. This game is set to play on Tuesday, Feb. 11.

Kennett will have a week off before competing again. They are set to host Woodland on Friday. Feb. 7.