Hayes has taken over as the primary scoring option for the Irish as a senior and has had some big-time performances against out of state powerhouses. I’ve been really impressed with the scoring jump that he’s taken, looking more confident in creating for himself and getting to his spots. We saw this at the end of his junior season when STVM took on Oak Hill without a few senior starters and Hayes scored over 30 points in that game, that was a sign of things to come for him this winter. Kent State is getting a tough wing who could be a nice addition to a squad that’s been near the top of the MAC recently.

Hayes was absolutely unreal in STVM victory over The Skill Factory, going off for over 30 points on tough shots all over the court. This is the second straight season I’ve seen Hayes drop over 30 points on a prep powerhouse after he did the same thing to Oak Hill Academy last year in a loss. I haven’t seen Hayes shoot the ball with that much confidence and he was creating looks for himself, knocking them down off the bounce, catch, double clutch, it didn’t matter. I’ve seen Hayes play around 20 times and that was by far his best game I’ve seen him play. A huge weekend for STVM, getting wins over Centerville and The Skill Factory in a three-day span.

Hayes was one of the biggest reasons why STVM won the game on Sunday. He turned his defensive energy up. He was at the top of the full-court zone defense and he caused tons of turnovers. He ended up with a ton of layups and and-1s. Hayes was not the main score for the team on Sunday but he impacted the game greatly in other ways.