PORTAGEVILLE, Mo. -- The Malden boys basketball team trailed by as much as 14 points in the opening quarter of play but rallied to play in the championship of the Bootheel Conference Tournament.
The fourth-seeded Malden outscored top-seeded Hayti by double digits in the second and third quarters to move ahead and win 69-56 in the semifinal Tuesday.
"We are excited to have a chance to play for the championship," Malden coach Andrew Halford said. "Hayti came out blazing tonight and hit some 3's. We knew they had some good shooters and giving up 23 points in the first quarter was not a good start for us defensively. But we were able to keep ourselves in check, keep playing the game and chip away a little at a time."
Hayti, which knocked down five of its eight 3-pointers in the opening eight minutes of play, enjoyed a 23-11 lead by the start of the second quarter.
Malden followed with a 15-0 run to erase all of its trouble and move ahead 26-23 with three minutes left in the first half.
Hayti and Malden were tied at 32-all with seven minutes left in the third quarter but the Green Wave finished the quarter with a 26-12 run.
Malden senior forward Broddric Annesser scored 18 of his team-high 24 points after halftime. Chience Booker tallied 15 of his 21 points in the first half and Dushawn Butler also finished in double digits with 10 points.
Darius Jones paced Hayti with 21 points.
Malden (16-4) plays host Portageville in the championship at 8 p.m. Friday.
DEXTER 75, PUXICO 38
Alan Pippins and Joe Rice each made two 3-pointers in the first quarter Tuesday night, and the Dexter Bearcats rolled to a Stoddard County Activities Association victory.
The Bearcats (13-6, 5-0 SCAA) shot out to 24-6 lead after one quarter in a matchup played at Puxico.
Levi Woods scored a game-high 16 points and Dalton King had eight for Puxico.
Pippins paced the Bearcats with 21 points that included six 3-pointers, and Rice finished with six.
The Bearcats extended their lead to 50-21 at halftime. Gabe Jackson scored 10 of his 20 points in the second quarter.
The Bearcats played without starter Ben Sindle, who tore his ACL last week and will miss the rest of the season.
Bernie 65, Twin RIvers 36
The Bernie Mules showed no signs of a letdown Tuesday night, winning a nonconference matchup at Broseley.
Michael Suiter paced the Mules (16-5) with 17 points and nine rebounds. Nate Dillinger scored 14 points, Hunter Slavings made four 3-pointers for 12 points and Blake Harty had 10 points, including two 3-pointers.
Tanner Ledbetter paced Twin Rivers with nine points.
Bloomfield 61,
Bell City 30
The Wildcats held Bell City to single-digit scoring for three quarters Tuesday night and rolled to a Stoddard County Activities Association road victory.
The Wildcats (7-8, 2-3 SCAA) led 16-7 after one quarter, 35-10 after two and 56-15 after three.
Peyton Bell paced the Wildcats with 16 points that included three 3-pointers. Travis McCullough added 12 points, including two 3-pointers.
Nate Stone led Bell City (0-15, 0-6) with 12 points, and Luke Nichols had 11.
Van Buren 79,
Lesterville 64
Jacob Brown made six 3-pointers for Van Buren to finish with 19 points. Hayden Towner got 18 points, all from inside the arc. He made six 2s and went 6 for 8 at the foul line, as well, and Trey Nicholson did a little bit of both to finish with 14 points.
After trailing by four after the first quarter, the Bulldogs (7-8) dominated the next 16 minutes and outscored Lesterville 50-27 to take a 19 point lead going into the fourth quarter.
South Iron 54,
Clearwater 49
Heath Ayers led Clearwater (8-10) with 15 points after going 3 for 7 on 3-pointers and 4 for 4 at the foul line. Ridge Huff added 11 points and four rebounds.
Clarkton 69,
Delta-Deering 61
Lee Matney led the Reindeer (6-11) with 36 points after going 12 for 15 at the foul line. Matney didn't make a 3, but did have a pair of three-point plays and scored at least eight points in every quarter. He was 5 for 6 on free throws in the fourth quarter, as well. Layne Morgan was 4 for 5 at the foul line in the fourth and finished with 14 points.
Naylor 55, Scott City 48
Zeke Ward led Naylor (6-10) with 23 points and Jordan Cook had 15 after the Eagles played their second game in as many days.
"It was a true team effort last night," Naylor coach Jim Carrier said. "Everyone played because we needed to keep fresh legs on the floor. When we made adjustments, the boys made them well. It was a good night to be an Eagle."
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Twin Rivers 90,
Scott City 28
In a blowout win, Katelyn South finished with 33 points for the Royals (13-8) and moved into fourth all-time in career scoring at Twin Rivers. South, who is signed to play at Three Rivers next year, now has 1,466 points and is 84 points away from passing her coach, Kelly Westerfield. South passed Jaysea Morgan last night on the list. Amanda Lance is Twin Rivers' all-time leading scorer with 2,563 points and Tori Cole is second with 1,632 points.
Van Buren 61,
Lesterville 36
Jalyn Morgan led the Lady Dawgs (14-5) with 22 points on senior night after scoring 12 in the first quarter. Jenny Morey added 18 points with six in the first quarter, giving her and Morgan 18 of Van Buren's 20 points in the opening eight minutes.
Van Buren led by 24 at halftime after holding Lesterville to 11 points in the first half.
Greenville 54,
East Carter 24
Beth Bangert led Greenville (8-10) with 20 points as the Bears held East Carter to under 10 points scoring in every quarter. McKenzie Miller made a pair of 3-pointers and finished with 13 points while Tristin Porter got 12.
Audrey Carter led East Carter with 11 points after making three 3-pointers.