NEW MADRID, Mo. - Dushawn Butler carried Malden for three quarters and the East Prairie boys basketball team had no answer for it. And once the rest of Butler's teammates found their stroke it was too much for the Eagles to bear.
Butler finished with a game-high 31 points to lead the second-seeded Green Wave to a 68-55 win over No. 3 East Prairie Tuesday night at New Madrid County Central High School during a Class 3, District 1 Tournament semifinal.
The 5-9 senior at one time had 26 of Malden's 36 points, shot 10 of 21 from the field - which included five in a row during a stretch - and had seven rebounds. He was just as hot as the sweltering NMCC gymnasium that went without cool air during a balmy 70-degree afternoon.
Butler kept Malden in contention early on and then gave them a lead they wouldn't relinquish. The rest of his comrades piled on in the fourth to create the separation the Green Wave needed to reach their third district championship game in four seasons.
"He's a player," East Prairie coach Casey Knight said. "... We knew coming in that he was going to look to up the intensity and them as a whole team was going to do that. He's a player that is hard to stop. You can contain him, but when he gets in the paint he leaps so high it's hard to contest that shot. He did what he needed to do to carry his team into the championship."
Butler was held to seven points when East Prairie won the regular season meeting between the two, 56-55, Feb. 13. Malden was without starter Malcom McBride and Ontario Reed at the time, which made a difference on Tuesday. The two guards, especially McBride, opened up the offense by driving the lane and kicking out to Butler, who made East Prairie pay seven times from 3-point range.
Malden (22-6) will face top-seeded Charleston on Thursday at 7:30 p.m., for a district championship. On Feb. 6, the Green Wave took the defending district champs to two overtimes before falling 81-79.
"We've got to be ready to play. We know what they are and they know what we are," Halford said. "Both teams, I don't know how you don't get up and excited for this game. It should be a fun atmosphere."