Bloomfield, Missouri -  For the fourth time in five years, the #1 seed Kennett Indians walk away with the first place trophy.  This year it was #3 seed Bernie who fell short of the victory and the opportunity to beat a bigger school.

"That's pretty special," stated Jim Vaughan, Kennett's head basketball coach.  "It's a great accomplish for us.  Winning it again is always going to be special."

The Bernie Mules knew the difficulty that lay ahead.  The house was packed full of Mule fans.  It's always a large crowd at Bloomfield, but this year seemed even larger with Kennett and Bernie on the court.

The Indians simply owned the court.  They held the Mules to less than 10 points in each quarter and right from the gate began scoring and playing their defense well.

"Our biggest concern today was not letting their shooters get open, commented Vaughan.  "How impressive of our kids to recognize that.  We jumped a little bit in the half-court and would double the ball and run to a shooter.  We just didn't give them time to set up and get one off.  That was our biggest key defensively against the Mules tonight.  Our kids executed well and got it done.  That's on them for taking what they knew they had to do and making sure they got it done."

The Indians ended the half with a 29-13 lead over Bernie and quickly squashed their hopes of winning the title.  Kennett came out of the locker room psyched for the 2nd half.  They scored 15 unanswered points in the first few minutes of the 3rd quarter jumped to a 44 - 15 lead with about four minutes still remaining in the period.

"We have traditionally had some lackluster 3rd quarters," continued Vaughan.  "We guarded the first three possessions and I think we got three turnovers right away.  That right there game us momentum the rest of the quarter.  We always say the first two or three minutes our of halftime is going to tell the tale of the second half.  Our first three possessions kind of set the tone for how we finished the game."

Akeem Nelson recorded the game-high 20 points for Kennett with 2 treys.  Senior Kevonte Mitchell tallied 18 points and was 8 for 10 at the charity stripe.

Caleb Ellenburg recorded a team-high 17 points. 

Kennett has been impressive during tournament play at Bloomfield.  Winning four our of the last five years and only losing to Holcomb last year.

"That's pretty special," Vaughan said of the winning streak.  "I don't care what size schools are in it when you get in this tournament there are small schools and a mixture of us and Dexter in Class 4.   You get teams, coaches and the atmosphere that is competitive.  Winning this is still a good accomplishment for us regardless of who is playing it it.  Obviously, you have got to come and play every night."

"South Pemiscot gave us a really good game Saturday night.  I really think that helped boost us and kind of worked our kids up a little going into the championship game.  We really came to play and winning it again is always going to be special."

"We play New Madrid County Central next Tuesday in New Madrid.  They have a special guard and some others who can rebound well.  They are active and tough.  It will be a game of skill and who can just come out on top."

Final Score Kennett Indians 59   Bernie Mules 27

Kennett    15 16 19   9  -  59

Bernie        6   9   6   6  -  27

Kennett (59) - Antavies Drake 9, Rantrell Caruthers 4, Akeem Nelson 20, Kevonte Mitchell 18, Andre Oliver 4, Materion Jones 4. FG 23, FT 10/16, F 18. (3-pointers: Drake 1, Nelson 2. Fouled Out: none)

Bernie (27) - Matt Vernon 1, B.J. Jennings 2, Bubby Schwent 3, Joey Walker 4, Caleb Ellenburg 17. FG 11, FT 5/11, F 15. (3-pointer: none. Fouled Out: none)

The next big game for Bernie will be held at the ShowMe Center in Cape Girardeau.  They will play Oran on Monday, January 7th.