Dee Loflin, SMT Writer
Bloomfield, Missouri – The Holcomb Hornets were unstoppable and not even the three-time defending Bloomfield Christmas Tournament champions, the Kennett Indians were able to stop the Hornets from winning the title. This was a great game between two Dunklin County schools who had two coaches that are very impressive both on and off the court.
Senior Michael Glover who plays for the Hornets said, “Even if we won the state tournament this win would be right up there with it.” This was the first time in the school’s history that the Holcomb Hornets have won the tournament.
“There was purple everywhere in the stands tonight,” Coach Seth McBroom of Holcomb said of the New Year’s Eve victory. “Our community support was unbelievable with the weather and it being on New Year’s Eve night. The kids have brought into hard work and doing things right. You have to have character first and they are all great kids. From then on you just keep trying to build and improve things. The kids are trying to attack their weaknesses and there was no doubt. Everybody has weaknesses in their games and our kids attacked theirs and get better at them so we can play in games like this and have a chance to win!”
Holcomb was on the board first and scored the first eight points of the game. They came out strong and fast. Kennett closed the margin to 13–10 by the end of the first quarter, but did not take the lead until early in the second quarter. At half the Indians lead by three points following a dunk by Kevonte Mitchell with less than five seconds remaining.
It was an intense battle with Holcomb leading the game 68-63 with only 2:21 left in the game, but Kennett quickly came back and tied the game 68-68 with less than 2 minutes remaining in regulation. Holcomb’s coach said of giving away the lead, “We had just come off a high and the crowd was going nuts as they called a timeout. Kennett took the ball twice from us and converted, which is something they are quite good at. We regained our composure and tried to take care of the ball tonight.”
Jamie Massey shot two free throws to put the Hornets back on top. Then just 55 seconds later, Kennett was able to capture one of two free throws cutting the lead to one point. Ryan Reeves followed with a 2 pointer to push the Hornets’ lead to 3. Antonio Primer missed a 3-pointer for Kennett. Then with only 19 seconds left in the game, Mitchell made two free throws to cut the margin to a 73-71. With only seconds remaining, the Hornets made two more points for the win!
Six foot seven Jamie Massey led the Hornets with 30 points with 20 of those points in the second half. McBroom said of Massey’s performance, “When we give him the ball he puts it in the basket. That’s just what he does and he does it extremely well. He is a senior this year and one of the best players around.”
Devonte Mitchell led Kennett with 27 points for the evening and played with a noticeable limp during the second half. “I think he slipped on the floor and maybe pulled a muscle for a bit,” stated coach Vaughn.
It was the fourth straight season that the Kennett Indians had advanced to the finals and for Holcomb it was their first. “The path to the title was tough and that’s one of the reasons everybody loves this tournament,” McBroom said.
Holcomb now 9-3 on the season will return to action on January 4th to host Campbell. Kennett now 8-4 will play in a Bootheel Conference regular-season contest against Hayti.
The sixth-seeded Hornets withstood the top-seeded Kennett Indians in the final minutes of regulation to win by only four points. Final score was 75-71. Congratulations to Holcomb on a game well played!
Stats for Championship Game
HHS 13 16 21 25 - 75
KHS 10 21 17 23 - 71
HOLCOMB (75) - Chase Davis 16, Cameron Clark 2, Ryan Reeves 9, James Vance 4, Jamie Massey 30, Michael Glover 14. FG 28, FG 17/25, F 18. (3-pointers: Davis 1, Reeves 1. Fouled out: Vance)
KENNETT (71) - Antavies Drake 6, Akeem Nelson 9, Jay Edgington 3, Collin Smith 6, Kevonte Mitchell 27, Harold Weeden 3, Antonio Primer 17. FG 26, FT 16/24, F 21. (3-pointers: Weeden 1, Primer 1, Edgington 1. Fouled out: none)
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