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Hayti boys basketball squad overcomes slow start, edges Senath-Hornerville 58-57 in overtime
Hayti’s Quindale Malone gets set to defend the inbound pass from Senath-Hornersville's Knolan Hunter in a varsity boys basketball game at Senath-Hornersville Tuesday night.
SENATH - The Hayti Indians varsity boys basketball squad entered Tuesday with a 22-team game winning streak against the Senath-Hornersville Lions.
The Indians' most recent win against the Lions was an 80-55 victory in last season’s Bootheel Conference tournament championship.
Hayti had won the last five games against Senath-Hornersville by an average of 24 points, and has basically "had their number”.
But an "easy" win was not in the cards for Hayti Tuesday, as Senath-Hornersville put up a fight from the start to an overtime finish.
Hayti won the tip but an early turnover led to a Parker Rhew 3-pointer, and Senath-Hornersville grabbed an early lead. Following back to back misses by the Indians, the Lions’ Knolan Hunter and Blaze Mears both converted buckets and the Senath-Hornersville lead grew to 7-0, forcing Hayti head coach Travis Day to call an early timeout.
The first-quarter offense the whole season has been a concern for Hayti as they are only averaging nine points, while giving up an average of 14.
"Myself and Coach (Kevin) McCaig were just talking about this", stated Day when asked about their first-quarter struggles, "We have missed a lot of layups that is a huge contributor to that slow start. We just have to keep grinding to turn that around."
Coming out of the timeout, Hayti's offensive struggles continued with a turnover and a missed shot. Following a Jesus Luna 3-point play with 3:24 left in the first quarter, Hayti found themselves on the wrong end of a 12-0 run, and the Lion crowd was in a frenzy. Hayti sophomore point guard Elijah Burnett, who hasn’t played any varsity minutes up to this point in the season, came off the bench and ended the Indians' scoring drought with a bucket at the 2:21 mark. Senior guard Quindale Malone drew a charge on the next Senath-Hornersville possession, and suddenly the momentum shifted to the Indian side. Hayti held Senath scoreless for the rest of the quarter and managed a couple more baskets in the process, ending the first trailing 12-6.
The second period started with a quick 3-pointer by Malone. Malone and Hunter then traded buckets. A Hunter three-point play stretched the lead back to six at the 5:29 mark for the Lions. Following another charge drawn by Malone, the Hayti offense woke up as they outscored the Lions 11-7, cutting the halftime lead to 24-22. Hunter led all scorers at the half with 8, while Malone's 7 and Trayvon Thomas' 5 were best for Hayti.
Senath-Hornersville came out in the third quarter with a 7-0 run to give the Lions some breathing room with a 31-22 lead at the 5:18 mark. Hayti had a 7-0 run of their own however, and following a bucket by Malone and senior shooting guard Tyliek Moore the Lions' lead was back to 31-29 with 2:15 left.
Senath-Hornersville's Brian Marroquin converted a 3-pointer to stretch the lead back to 34-29. Thomas finished the quarter strong for Hayti with back to back steals and two field goals, trimming the Lions' lead to 34-33 heading into the final period.
The Indians took the fourth quarter possession and Thomas converted a field goal to give Hayti its first lead on 35-34 with 7:26 left in the game. Fast forward to the 1:03 mark, Hayti holds that same one-point lead at 43-42.
With the Lions having possession, Hunter got fouled and went to the line for two pressure free throws. He hit them both and Senath-Hornersville took the lead back 44-43.
Hayti turned the ball over on its next possession. Rhew then drove the lane and got fouled with 26.1 seconds remaining. He converted both and just like that the Lions had a three-point lead with 16.8 seconds left to play.
Hayti needed a 3-pointer to tie and they worked the ball to Thomas for the last shot. Unable to get an open 3-point look, he then drove the lane, drew three defenders, and kicked the ball to Malone for a wide open and successful 3-pointer to silence the crowd.
Senath-Hornersville immediately called their last timeout and they had a shot to win with still 8.9 seconds left. Hayti stole the inbound pass but after two missed shots overtime was necessary.
The overtime tip went to Hayti and immediately they went to work. Thomas drove the lane and drew the foul. He went to the line and knocked both free throws down to give the Indians the early overtime lead 48-46.
Following a Malone bucket, and a Moore steal and conversion, Hayti’s lead jumped to 52-46.
Senath-Hornersville was relegated to play the foul game, but Hayti went 8 of 11 from the free throw line to clinch the tough road win. Thomas was 6 of 8 from the line in overtime.
Hayti has never been known to be a great free throw shooting team, but knocking them down is what won it for the Indians, and with that coach Day has his 25th Hayti Indian win.
"I attribute it to the kids buying in to what we are trying to teach them, and trusting the process,” Day said. "I appreciate everything everyone has done for me, and I hope we get a bunch more."
Senath-Hornersville is back in action Thursday when it hosts Neelyville.
Hayti hosts undefeated New Madrid County Central Friday. New Madrid County Central is ranked No. 2 in the latest Class 4 state poll.
"They are the No. 2 team in Class 4 for a reason,” said Day, "We are going to have to play our tails off and do everything right to give ourselves a chance. We will have to battle beginning to end or its going to be a long night.”
Hayti 58, Senath Hornersville 57
Senath 12 12 10 12 11 - 57
Hayti 6 16 11 13 12 - 58
SENATH-HORNERSVILLE (57) - Parker Rhew 19, Knolan Hunter 17, Jarret Coronado 8, Blaze Mears 5, Jesus Luna 5, Brian Marroquin 3. FG 20, FT 13/16, F 16. (3-Pointers: Rhew 2, Marroquin 1, Mears 1; Fouled out: Mears).
HAYTI (58) – Trayvon Thomas 24, Quindale Malone 15, Tyliek Moore 12, Elijah Burnett 5, Lee Taylor 2. FG 21, FT 11/17, F 17. (3-pointers: Thomas 2, Malone 2, Burnett 1; Fouled out: Burnett).