Kennett Indians boys basketball gears up for season with Black and Gold Scrimmage

Sophomore Zayne Franklin, in the black jersey, feeds the post while being guarded by junior Tyquavious (Ty) Jones during the Varsity round of Kennett’s Black and Gold scrimmage.

Photo by Kaelin Triggs, Delta Dunklin Democrat.

KENNETT, Mo. - The Kennett Indians basketball season has sprung into full action this week.

The boy's team rounded their hometown fans to their black and gold scrimmage on Tuesday night.

According to first-year head coach Seth McBroom, this was a chance for the fans to meet the team and for the boys to give them a preview of what to expect this season.

“Tonight is just a little showcase,” McBroom said. “It just so they can have some fun and the fans can have some fun, but I was glad they went after each other a little bit and played aggressively.”

The night gave McBroom, who doubles as Kennett's athletic director, a chance to introduce the other winter sports for parents and fans to support this season.

This includes the girl’s basketball team coached by Erika Cobb.

Cobb enters her second season with Kennett after pushing the girls to a 21-5 record last year.

This was their best overall record in over a decade. The last time Kennett’s girls basketball team performed this well was in 2012, the year after the program made its first final-four appearance at the state tournament.

Along with the girl’s basketball team, McBroom introduced coach Jim Tidd and his wrestling team.

Tidd highlights having a lot of experienced returners this season for his wrestling team. Along with this, the girl’s team has 11 wrestlers this year, which should help them stack up a lot of wins this winter.

The cheerleaders also took the stage to show some of their winter routines before McBroom introduced his boys basketball roster.

Kennett will have five returning seniors and two juniors along with seven sophomores and a busload of freshmen to round out McBroom’s squad this year.

The seniors include Dyson Watson, Hayden Gilmore and D’Shun Wilson as well as Karmine Tribble and Sacory Ray.

The event held three 10-minute scrimmages which saw the Freshmen team play and then the Junior Varsity (JV) play. The final scrimmage to take the court was the Varsity team.

In between each scrimmage, the team held a three-point shooting contest. In the final championship round, Watson faced off against Gilmore in which Watson would take the victory. He made 15 three-pointers in one minute in comparison to Gilmore who made 12.

“I liked the game tonight,” Watson said. “It helps kind of get some of those nerves out of the way and we got to show everybody a glimpse of what we are looking like after only 12 practices. It’s a good way to bring the community together.”

For Ray, a senior, he hopes the energy shown tonight can continue throughout the season and help build their chemistry on the court.

“I like that we were able to have fun and play well together,” Ray said. “We got a lot of talent, still a lot to work on but we’re going to get better as it progresses and make this a good year.”

At the end of the night, McBroom addressed the parents. He wanted to keep everyone informed of what this season will look like as his first year coaching at Kennett.

Overall, he was grateful for their support in the upcoming winter and hopes to continue progressing with this team.

“There were obviously some things we need to fix,” McBroom said. “We’ve only had 12 practices and no part of me thinks tonight was perfect, but to have a good crowd here was worth all of it. The community is great, they came out with a decent crowd to support us. We are proud of the kids so far and we are hoping we can be more proud as we proceed through the season.”