BLOOMFIELD -- The Green Wave did what nobody else in the Bloomfield Christmas Tournament did and kept Klay Barton in check.
Malden held the tournament's leading scorer to one point in the second half and 21 total. Barton had been averaging more than 28 points in the tournament and was coming off a 37-point performance against Hayti, the individual high for any game in the tournament.
Doniphan led by one at halftime after Barton scored 11 of Doniphan's 13 points in the second quarter. But then the Green Wave limited him to a solitary free throw and won 66-40 in the Bloomfield Christmas Tournament third-place game.
"We stuck with our gameplan," Malden coach Andrew Halford said. "Barton is a very good offensive player and he hit some tough shots in the first half ... step-back 3s. I felt like we contested his scoring opportunities very well. We just kind of stuck with it and he missed some shots. Second half we did a much better job rebounding the ball, also."
Added Doniphan coach Logan Nutt, "Fourth isn't my favorite. I'd like to be first, but I am very proud of my guys. I feel like they displayed great character and effort, and I feel like they earned some respect in this gym and in this tournament."
Barton finished the tournament with 107 points (26.7 avg.)
Malden's leading scorer, Chience Booker, more than did his part for the Green Wave. He hit 10 3-pointers and finished with 32 total points, giving him 47 for the tournament after he was held scoreless by Twin Rivers and to three points by Dexter.
"It is always nice to get out of this tournament undefeated or one loss even, get out of here feeling like you accomplished something," Halford said. "(Booker) stepped it up big time today. What helped us out even more in the second half was him rebounding the ball. That's huge when he steps up defensively."
Booker sank his first 3 of the second half to put Malden (9-2) ahead by six. Malcolm McBride scored twice and Broddric Annesser added a bucket for a 14-1 run, with Doniphan's only point being Barton's free throw.
Malden allowed just three field goals and seven total points the second half as it kept building and building its lead.
"It always helps when you only give up three points in a quarter," Halford said. "That was huge, coming out in the third quarter because we saw what they did in the third quarter against Hayti last night when they come out and just blew it up (and outscored Hayti 21-12 in the quarter)."
Halford had McBride and Ontario Reed taking turns guarding Barton.
"You just have to stay with him, try to make it tough on him. He is just a really good player, it is a tough challenge," Halford said. "We used Reed and McBride and they did a good job sticking with him and contesting his scoring opportunities even though early in the game he was lighting it up."
Four players scored for the Green Wave, all of them in double figures. Dushaun Butler, Malden's leading scorer for the tournament with 74 points, had 12 points, as did Annesser. McBride added 10. Both Booker and Annesser individually outscored Doniphan's entire offense in the second half. Butler and McBride, with six points each in the second half, were a free throw from matching Doniphan's seven points.
"We got to give credit to Malden, they knocked us off of our game. They made it tough to even make passes," Nutt said. "They started hitting shots back-to-back-to-back and it seemed like they couldn't miss. It started dragging on us mentally and we weren't able to recover from it."
Doniphan closed the first quarter with a 10-point run that also caused the fourth lead change of the game.
After back-and-forth scoring early, Malden took a 14-10 lead with two minutes left after a pair of 3-pointers. Barton started the Dons burst with a three-point play. Then Wyatt Marler followed with a 3-pointer. A minute later, Barton held for the final shot of the quarter, drove left and swished a floater with two seconds left.
Malden, though, opened the second quarter with a 3 to get right back within one possession.
With nine points in the first quarter, Barton kept it flowing in the second with a pair of step-back 3s with a hand in his face.
Booker answered the call for Malden with four 3-pointers in the second quarter, and Malden was down by one at halftime.
Butler put Malden back in front for the first time since the first quarter with a 3 to start the second half and the lead continued to grow until the final buzzer.
While Malden held Barton to one point in the second half, Puxico had the best game defense against Barton after it held him to four points in the first half and 18 points total in the opening round of the tournament.
"I've seen what I know he can do. He is getting better at little parts of his game -- getting to the basket a little bit better, his defense improved and his scoring is going to be there for the most part," Nutt said. "The main things we want to improve with him is his defense, getting to the basket and being a leader and I feel like he improved throughout this week while at the same time putting on a clinic shooting the ball."