Offense lacks for Portageville in first round of Class 3, District 1 tournament

NEW MADRID -- A problem that has plagued the Portageville boys basketball team all season came back to haunt them once again.

Held to just eight points in the first half, the Bulldogs saw their season end Tuesday after falling to Hayti 47-34 during the Class 3, District 1 tournament at New Madrid County Central High School.

"We've struggled this year to score," Portageville head coach Jason Irby said. "Generally we could hold people to about 55 and we give ourselves a chance to win. Tonight, we couldn't make anything. We missed a lot of free throws and easy ones around the basket. We just couldn't score enough."

Portageville was the tournament's seventh seed and ended the season with a 10-13 record. They were led by Derrick Priggel and Chris Garmon's 10 points.

Derrick Priggel goes up for a shot against Hayti in the first round action of the district tournament. (submitted photo)

Derrick Priggel goes up for a shot against Hayti in the first round action of the district tournament. (submitted photo)

Brandon Burden led Hayti with 12 points. Kedron Rollings added nine. Indaqual Presberry, who was a noticeable focus for Portageville's defense, was limited to four points.

No. 2 Hayti moves on to play third-seeded Malden during the semifinals on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.

Though the Bulldogs struggled to score, they did a better job of containing Hayti's athletic bunch. The final number was a stark contrast to their previous meeting with Hayti -- a 70-41 defeat in early December.

"Defensively I thought we played well to hold them to 47," Irby said. "The first time we played them they scored a lot so we felt like we did a good job. We wanted to take (Indaqual) Presberry out of the game and I thought we did a good job of limiting his opportunities. We just couldn't put it in the hole."

Portageville fell behind 8-4 after one quarter. Hayti outscored them 9-4 in the second to take a 17-8 lead into halftime. Much of Portageville's struggles were around the basket where Hayti's 6-3 senior Brandon Burden occupied the paint.

"I thought he had some big rebounds and he altered a lot of our shots," Irby said about Burden. "I thought early on our guys were too worried about where he was at. He definitely was a factor inside."

The scoring paced quickened a bit in the second half starting with Hayti.

Portageville doubled its first half production with 12 points, but Hayti went up by as many as 22 points towards the end of the third quarter and held a 38-18 lead going into the fourth.

Though faced with the 20-point deficit, Portageville started the final period with a 13-4 run and sliced Hayti's advantage to nine with 1:31 remaining. A Jaylin Mosby free throw made it 42-33.

The Bulldogs missed on its next three offensive possessions, coughed up a few turnovers and couldn't convert at the line to draw much closer while Hayti went 3 of 4 from the line and added another bucket to make up the final.

"We had a couple bad turnovers and they hit some free throws and pulled back away," Irby said. "I was really proud of our kids' effort to fight and stay in it."

The Bulldogs finished a once rocky season winning eight of their last 14 games after starting 2-7.

"We had a rough start to the year and they really came together and had a good stretch of basketball," Irby said. "We became a competitive team just because of how hard they played. We just struggled all year to put the ball in the hole."

Portageville will graduate four seniors -- Priggel, Jaylin Mosby, Keenan Mosby and Gregory Hopkins.

"Derrick has been such a good example for Chris as far as his work ethic and his work in the weight room and how he goes about things. Chris has learned a lot and grown a lot this year," Irby said. "Tonight, Chris really played physical and strong against some big guys. He's come a long way and hopefully in the next few years he can become a force in there."

Portageville 4 4 10 16 -- 34

Hayti 8 9 21 9 -- 47

PORTAGEVILLE (34) -- Keenan Mosby 3, Will Crysler 2, Jaylin Mosby 4, Chris Garmon 10, Derrick Priggel 10, Gregory Hopkins 2, Ian Torrey 4. FG 12, FT 10-21, F 19. (3-pointers: Torrey 1. Fouled out: none.)

HAYTI (47) -- Kobe Cooper 2, Kedron Rollings 9, Ted Hall 2, Devan Riddick 6, Maurice Farr 7, Indaqual Presberry 4, Brandon Burden 12, Maurius Newbill 5. FG 18, FT 7, F 22. (3-pointers: Rollings 2, Riddick 1, Newbill 1. Fouled out: none.)