BROSELEY -- Malden coach Andrew Halford wanted to do anything he could to shut down Twin Rivers' Hayden Thomas and Jamie Robards.
The Green Wave did that and more as they didn't allow the Royals to score more than 10 points in any quarter and won 56-33 on Tuesday night.
"We really had a lot of intensity on the defensive end, a lot of attention to detail from what we wanted to do as far as strategy. We had a gameplan, come in and executed. They did well," Halford said. "Thirty-three points for a night is a pretty good defensive effort, I feel like."
Thomas finished with 14 points, but not have more than four points in any quarter. Robards didn't get a field goal and had two points off free throws.
"They are good offensive players. You let them get a little space, get going on the offensive end, they are dangerous," Halford said.
As a team, Twin Rivers didn't make more than four field goals in any quarter.
"I thought defensively, they contested well, and I thought we lost our composure just a little bit because of their pressure," Twin Rivers coach Seth McBroom said. "It was hard for us to maintain our composure and move the ball like we'd like to two trips in a row."
After a slow offensive start by both team, Malden (3-1) led 5-4 midway through the first quarter, but finished it on a 10-2 run and didn't look back.
The Green Wave out-scored Twin Rivers (1-3) by at least four points in every quarter and led by as much as 25 late.
Chience Booker led all scorer with 23 points after sinking seven 3-pointers, six of them from the same 3/4 spot on the left hand side of the court. The seventh pushed him about 10 feet further left near the corner spot.
"We'll take that every time," Halford said. "We just try to find him where he's open."
Booker had two 3-pointers in each of the first three quarters. He had back-to-back 3s in the middle of the second quarter, both spot-up shots from that 3/4 spot, that put Malden ahead by 15.
He again sank two in a row from that spot in the middle of the third quarter, ending a six-point Twin Rivers run and putting Malden ahead by 17.
His 3 and then a pair of free throws early in the fourth increased the lead to 23 points. It held their for a bit and with 3 minutes remaining, Onatario Reed scored to put Malden ahead 54-29, its biggest lead of the game.
Broddric Annesser finished 12 points, four in each of the first three quarter.
Twin Rivers' six-point run early in the third quarter was its longest of the game. After Booker's two 3-pointers, the Royals had two points in the final five minutes of the quarter.
"I think their defense led to some bad offense for us," McBroom said. "Not only were they athletic but they were running stuff well, looking for each other, communicating and closing off lanes defensively. Kudos to (Halford), they are doing well."
Thomas was the Royals' only player in double figures with 14 points. He was 2 for 3 on free throws and had six field goals.
Point guard Zach Hargraves, who had seven points, was the only other Royal to make more than one field goal.