Kennett claims first Semoball Cup title

Two Kennett athletes show off the Semoball Cup award won by Kennett High School athletics at Friday's 2022 Semoball Awards in Cape Girardeau.

Southeast Missourian

An undefeated state championship run and a pair of spring teams that reached the final four vaulted Kennett to its first Semoball Cup title.

Kennett, which won the MSHSAA Class 1 girls tennis state championship with a 21-0 record, topped Delta, Jackson, Oran and Van Buren in the standings for the top sports program in the area.

The winner was announced Friday night at the ninth annual Semoball Awards at La Croix Church in Cape Girardeau.

Oak Ridge, Perryville, Gideon, Holcomb and Portageville rounded out the top 10 in the standings.

A point system takes a school’s overall winning percentage and adds bonus points for advancement in postseason play for both team and individual sports.

Kennett finished with 153.65 points with Delta second at 142.87. The margin was the fourth closest in the nine-year history of the Cup. Jackson (138.32), Oran (135.68) and Van Buren (130.98) followed.

Kennett was one of three area schools to win a state title as Van Buren won the girls cross country meet and Charleston, which finished 17th in the Cup standings, won the boys basketball crown.

The Kennett girls tennis team celebrates after winning the MSHSAA Class 1 in Springfield, Mo. on Oct. 22, 2021.

Photo provided

Kennett finished in the top 10 for the fourth straight year and fifth time since 2014 but never higher than last year’s fifth place showing.

Jackson won the Cup for the first time last year and returned to the top 10 for a sixth straight year.

Kennett is the sixth different school to claim the Cup joining Jackson, Advance (2020) and Hayti (2019) while Malden won it twice and Notre Dame three times.

The Semoball Cup is a traveling trophy with the winning school also receiving a plaque.

Kennett edged Westminster Christian Academy 5-4 in the Class 1 championship tennis match during the fall.

Anelle Harris, Audrey Phillips and Handley McAtee each won their singles match in straight sets while Harris and Phillips won their top-seeded doubles match. Westminster Christian took 2 of 3 doubles and a pair of singles matches in straight set.

The No. 5 singles match between Kennett junior Macy Bazzell and Westminster Christian’s Kate Dempsey went to a deciding third set tiebreaker that Bazzell won 10-7.

Harris also earned all-state honors in the individual state singles tournament to boost Kennett in the Cup standings.

Even with a second-place finish, Kennett would have still edged out Delta by the smallest margin in the Cup’s history — just 0.21 of a point.

In the spring, Kennett’s baseball team finished 26-5, taking third place in Class 4 while the softball team finished third in Class 2 with a 22-8 record.

That playoff success was enough to overcome a .563 winning percentage, which ranked 17th best among all area schools.

Delta finished with a .529 winning percentage, ranking 22nd.

Jackson had the best winning percentage at .714 among area schools but it was lower than the .773 winning percentage last year that vaulted Jackson to its first Cup title.

All 57 schools in the Semoball coverage area compete for the Cup. The overall winning percentage of combined teams is added to bonus points earned through advancement in postseason play. Individual sports, such as golf, wrestling or track and field, earn points by placement in district and state competition with bonus points for individual champions, state qualifiers and all-state performances.

Delta’s girls basketball team placed second in Class 1 with a 28-2 record. The Bobcats lost 63-50 to South Nodaway in the championship game. Behind three event wins by senior Kendall Holweg, Delta finished third in the Class 1 state track meet.

Jackson’s boys soccer team finished second in Class 4, reaching the finals with consecutive overtime wins, while the football team reached the Class 5 semifinals. Two other teams advanced to the quarterfinals while the girls golf team placed third at state.

Oran was a finalist for the sixth straight year led by the baseball team that finished second in Class 2, losing 9-2 to St. Elizabeth in the final. The Eagles softball team reached the quarterfinal while the girls basketball team also advanced to the state playoffs.

Van Buren also won a state championship in girls cross country while the boys finished fifth at the Class 1 state meet. The girls track team also finished 16th at state behind an individual championship by Katie Griffin.

2022 SEMOBALL CUP

The Semoball Cup is presented to the school with the most successful season based on a formula that takes into account the combined winning percentage of all sports teams (WIN) plus bonus points for advancement in postseason play for both teams (POST) and individuals (IND). The bonus points are divided by the number of teams a school fields. Here are the standings with previous rankings from 2020:

Mercy is the presenting sponsor of the Semoball Awards, the area’s premier awards show recognizing student-athletes and coaches in Southeast Missouri.

SCHOOL	WIN	POST	IND	TOTAL
1. Kennett	56.25	93.60	3.80	153.65
2. Delta	52.87	41.25	48.75	142.87
3. Jackson	71.43	45.00	21.89	138.32
4. Oran	58.02	76.67	1.0	135.68
5. Van Buren	49.23	6.25	75.50	130.98
6. Oak Ridge	38.10	6.67	83.0	127.76
7. Perryville	46.35	72.00	1.50	119.85
8. Gideon	62.79	55.00	0.0	117.79
9. Holcomb	69.68	45.00	0.0	114.68
10. Portageville	62.67	48.75	0.0	111.42
11. Bernie	63.50	41.25	2.0	106.75
12. Ellington	63.40	41.25	2.0	106.65
13. Hayti	55.42	38.33	11.5	105.26
14. East Carter	66.89	36.25	2.0	105.14
15. Cape Central	51.58	25.00	26.38	102.96
16. Notre Dame	68.53	23.75	9.22	101.51
17. Charleston	42.55	55.00	3.33	100.89
18. Eagle Ridge	60.00	35.00	0.0	95.00
19. Clearwater	42.50	50.00	2.33	94.83
20. Woodland	67.67	17.50	7.5	92.67
21. Dexter	52.05	7.50	32.33	91.88
22. New Madrid	50.75	30.00	3.67	84.41
23. Advance	62.99	17.00	0.0	79.99
24. Saxony Lutheran	49.20	7.00	21.86	78.06
25. Scott City	63.70	12.00	1.75	77.45
26. Cooter	63.03	13.75	0.0	76.78
27. Leopold	46.75	27.50	2.0	76.25
28. Malden	42.76	7.00	23.67	73.43
29. Greenville	51.97	18.75	2.5	73.22
30. Meadow Heights	62.81	9.00	1.0	72.81
31. Clarkton	54.44	15.00	0.0	69.44
32. Kelly	49.65	16.67	1.25	67.56
33. South Pemiscot	47.50	20.00	0.0	67.50
34. Doniphan	54.66	11.00	1.67	67.33
35. Poplar Bluff	42.86	14.20	4.78	61.83
36. Westwood Baptist	61.82	0.0	0.0	61.82
37. Neelyville	53.57	7.50	0.0	61.07
38. Twin Rivers	47.53	13.33	0.0	60.86
39. St. Vincent	45.52	12.00	3.25	60.77
40. Risco	50.48	8.33	0.0	58.81
41. East Prairie	41.67	16.25	0.0	57.92
42. Naylor	38.46	17.50	0.0	55.96
43. Richland	39.19	5.00	10.0	54.19
44. Chaffee	43.59	7.50	1.50	52.59
45. Bell City	41.67	6.67	4.0	52.33
46. Southland	32.56	18.75	0.0	51.31
47. Senath-Hornersville	39.52	5.0	1.0	45.52
48. Sikeston	36.41	5.0	3.8	45.21
49. Bloomfield	26.55	10.0	8.5	45.05
50. Puxico	34.00	5.0	1.5	40.50
51. Campbell	34.43	5.0	0.0	39.43
52. Caruthersville	28.69	7.5	3.0	39.19
53. Scott Central	27.27	8.33	1.0	36.61
54. North Pemiscot	28.26	5.0	0.0	33.26
55. Delta-Deering	21.28	5.0	0.0	26.28
56. Marquand-Zion	13.79	0.0	1.5	15.29
57. Zalma	5.41	0.0	2.33	7.74