ADAMS —It was a big night for Southland senior McKendry Kennedy and it was big night for the Rebels girls basketball team in Southland Thursday night.

Kennedy was honored for reaching the 1,000 point club and the Rebels beat Kingsland 54-37. It was the fourth win in six games for the Rebels, who are starting to pick up the pace after a slow start.

Kennedy actually scored her 1,000th career point in Tuesday’s win over Wabasha-Kellogg, but the game was stopped to honor her when she scored her first points in Thursday’s win. Kennedy was aware of the situation and her moment finally came when she sank a free throw to put Southland up 20-19 with 30 seconds left in the first half.

“I knew about it and I was anxious,” Kennedy said. “I guess I wanted to wait until there was thirty seconds left until I scored to keep everyone on their toes. It was really exciting and it means a lot to me.”

Kennedy had scored a total of 55 points in her previous two contests and she finished with 14 points, four rebounds and three assists against the Knights (10-10 overall, 7-7 Three Rivers). Southland head coach Dean Bendtsen has coached Kennedy since she was a freshman on the varsity squad and he said he couldn’t ask for a much better leader.

“She’s been a standout and she’s always been great role model,” Bendtsen said. “ She’s had my back since day one. She works hard, she’s in the weight room and she never misses a day of practice. You’ve got to really cheer for a kid like that.”

Bri Johnson added nine points and nine rebounds for Southland and Lexi Smith added six points and eight rebounds. Southland (6-12 overall, 6-10 Three Rivers) played four freshmen in Thursday’s win and Kennedy said they’re all coming along in stride.

“We’re just realizing that we play better when we’re having fun, we relax and we’re not so tense all of the time,” Kennedy said. “It’s been awesome. The [younger] girls have done a great job of listening and learning and we don’t really treat them like freshmen. We play together as a team.”

Bendtsen said its been nice to see his team pick up its play over the last two weeks.

“The kids have bought into the team concept. We weren’t gelling really well and we weren’t taking really good shots, then all of the sudden we played a couple of decent halves and we played well against Saint Charles,” Bendtsen said. “Now the kids have confidence and it’s a cool thing.”

Kingsland 19  18  —  37

Southland 20  34  —  54

Southland scoring: McKendry Kennedy, 14; Bri Johnson, 9; Jenna Benton, 6; Lexi Smith, 6; Kelsey Mensink, 6; Chelsey Kasel, 5; Kayla Nelsen, 4; Cassandra Allegree, 2; Larissa Goslee, 2; free throws: 61 percent (14-for-23); rebounds: 41 (Johnson, 9); turnovers: 16