Hayti holds out for road win over Clarkton

CLARKTON – Despite being down early on and neck-and-neck at halftime, the Hayti Indians pulled out a road win over Clarkton 71-60 Thursday, Jan. 4.

For both Hayti, coming off a Bloomfield Christmas Tournament consolation championship win, and Clarkton, battling to inch closer to the .500 mark, the game opened a long stretch of the season to sharpen their swords and prepare for tournament season.

“We just came off a long road trip to Bloomfield,” Hayti coach Craig Rodgers said. “I wanted to come out here and play hard tonight, and they pretty much did that. We had a slow start in the first half, but we ended up pulling out the win so I've got to be proud of that.”

Hayti's J'Vonta Payne opened up the action with a three-pointer, which kicked off a closely contested first quarter. Clarkton's Amauri Gorman eventually picked up two and was fouled, leading Clarkton to a 9-6 advantage. Gorman was the game's high-scorer with 27 total points.

larkton's Amauri Gorman (2) moves the ball downcourt, contending with Hayti's Jeremy Alexander (14) on defense during a game at Clarkton Thursday. Photo by Christian Johnson, Delta Dunklin Democrat

“Amauri has had a really good start to his senior year,” Clarkton coach Cole McBroom said. “He can keep improving, and with us stacking days I think we will have some constant improvement until February.”

Hayti's Dwayne Grant snagged a steal found the basket to flipflop the lead but the first quarter ended 16-15 in favor of the hosts.

With some minor adjustments in the second quarter, Hayti outscored Clarkton 16-11. Gorman powered the Reindeer with eight points from inside, and Alex Juarez added a three-pointer, but Hayti spread it out on offense to seal the deal going into the break. Jeremy Alexander put in back-to-back three-pointers and a layup, helping push Hayti to a 31-27 lead.

Alexander was top shot for Hayti with 23 points, which included seven three-pointers throughout the game. He opened the second half much the same, adding one of his three three-pointers in the third quarter.

While Hayti's offense picked up traction, the Indians also made adjustments on defense and went into zone, which McBroom said “was not on my bingo card.”

Clarkton's Clayton Godsey (35) makes a pass around Hayti defenders during a home game Thursday, Jan. 4. Photo by Christian Johnson, Delta Dunklin Democrat

“We wanted to pack it inside,” Rodgers said of the Indians' halftime adjustments. “They were getting to the basket more than we wanted, so we went into zone and made that adjustment. We got a few stops and got the chance to run a little bit. We can't have slow starts. That puts you in a hole, and you don't want to have to dig out of a hole in the district tournament. This is one we can learn from and move forward.”

Still, the game tied once more at 34-34 before Hayti began to cement a solid lead. Alexander ended the third with another three-pointer to take the Indians to a 53-42 advantage, and he put in another to kick off the fourth.

Clarkton held on but trailed by ten points for the majority of the last quarter and tied Hayti in scoring in the fourth. Clarkton's James Johnson put in a three-pointer of his own to maintain the margin, Clayton Godsey added a pair of layups and went two-for-two at the free throw line, and Gorman added seven of his 27 before the final buzzer.

“We had some guys step up and hit some shots, and that's a good thing to see,” McBroom said. “I think we held our own. I hate giving up 71 points, but goodness they shot it well. We knew they can shoot this year, but we looked better tonight than we did in November and December. That's what we want.”

McBroom said that, despite continuing to give up too many turnovers, the game was encouraging to see his team's progress in things like making the extra pass and getting over the “fear factor” when playing larger schools.

“I thought that tonight, we looked better than any point earlier in the season,” he said. “That shows improvement, and we play again tomorrow so we'll be stacking days. If we do that, we can improve. All you want is to be the best team you can be by February. If you can do that, you'll be in a good spot.”

For the Reindeer, Gorman scored 27, Clayton Godsey put in 10, Alex Juarez and James Johnson each added eight, Kaleb Hunter scored four and Caleb Godsey scored three. For Hayti, Alexander scored 23, Isaiah Love scored 18, J'Vonta Payne scored 15, JC Ford added nine and Arnez Jones added four.

Clarkton travels to Puxico tonight and hosts Risco Tuesday, while Hayti takes on Greenville Saturday.