Hayti kicks off tourney with win

Staff photo by Aaron Lynn Hayti's A.D. Hamilton (4) goes for a jumper down low against Jonathan Coleman (12) of Malden in Monday night's Bootheel Conference Opener. [Click to enlarge]

The Hayti Indians have set the tone with defense to kickoff the Bootheel Conference Tournament.

The Indians took down the Malden Green Wave 67-46 Monday night in the opening game of the tournament.

After a slow start that found Hayti trailing the Green Wave by eight heading in to the second quarter, the Indians asserted their pressure defense on Malden.

"We took a time-out to change a couple of people and told them that they had to play hard and couldn't just sit back and let things happen. We came out and really got after it for a three minute span and jumped out to a pretty good lead." said Hayti coach Philip Taylor.

Keenan Williams and Doriyon West of Hayti sparked that defense by coming up with turnovers and finding teammates down the court for easy baskets.

"With the kind of game we play, we want to get it and push it as much as possible." said Taylor.

Hayti also dominated the boards for second chances on offense to outscore Malden 26-7 in the second quarter and take a (34-23) lead into the half.

The Green Wave pulled to within five of the Indians at the two minute mark of the third quarter when Jonathan Coleman stole the ball took it coast-to-coast for a lay-up. Coleman was a big part of Malden's second half rally by playing some aggressive defense and coming up with three steals in the span of two minutes.

"We had a little talk at half-time," said Malden coach Brian Vent. "I told him that he wasn't playing up to par on his defense. I told him that he would have to step-it-up and he did, I appreciate him doing that."

Patrick Wilson of Malden also chipped in on Malden's rally with eight third quarter points and several rebounds but, with just under two minutes to play in the third, Hayti's Williams found West for an alley-oop dunk on an in-bound pass that sent a charge through the team and Hayti's fans. After that point, Hayti was unstoppable.

"I'm the height man and I try to get things going" said West.

Malden, who did a fair job against the full-court press most of the game, couldn't over-come Hayti's pressure to get back in the game.

"We knew it was coming and we did a good job of breaking it," said Vent. "There were a few times we struggled against it. We've worked on it and have seen it a couple of times this year with other teams. With a press like that you have to be patient. They do a good job in their press, they have the right guys where they want them. Coach Taylor has done a good job with that."

Eventually, Hayti put the game away by points off of turnovers.

"Thats pretty much been our story all season," said Vent. "This is my first year at Malden and we are trying to find a group of five kids that we can put on the floor at the same time. We're trying guys at different positions and right now we're battling at that and struggling with it. Turnovers have been our enemy all season. I can go back and watch game film tonight and I guarantee you that this lead that Hayti got on us in the second half, a lot of it would have to do with turnovers and easy baskets."

Hayti had four players to get into double-digits in scoring. Byron Norris and Darius Presberry led the way with 13 points each. West tossed in 11 while point-guard Keenan Williams finished with 10.

"When Keenan is on his game, he might be one of the better point guards around. He does a good job of finding the open guy." said Taylor.

Quentin Jackson, with 12 points, was the only player to get into double figures for Malden.

Hayti's next game will be a semifinal match-up with the Kennett Indians on Thursday night.

Both Hayti and Kennett play a similar style of basketball. Both teams employ a full-court press and use their speed to wear down opponents.

Staff photo by Aaron Lynn Hayti's Keenan Williams (2) drives the lane for a lay-up against Malden's Jonathan Coleman (12) in Monday night's Bootheel Conference Tournament [Click to enlarge]

"They play fast and they run a lot of bodies at you," said Taylor. "They're going to go about 13 deep and we only have eight. We might actually have to slow it down to stay with them. Coach Vaughan has a team that can shoot, pound it in and play good pressure defense all the time. Hopefully, we can hang with them. We'll just play hard, play smart and see what happens."