BY RONNIE HICKMAN
CITIZEN SPORTS EDITOR

PIKEVILLE — How sweet it is. The Cardinals are heading to the Sweet Sixteen state basketball tournament, ending a 37-year boys’ regional championship drought in Martin County.

The Cardinals defeated a good Lawrence County team 65-61 to claim the 15th Region championship title Monday night at Appalachian Wireless Arena in Pikeville. They will face the winner of Region 3 at 1:30 p.m. March 16 at Rupp Arena.

“This is surreal. I really don’t know what to say,” a happy Martin County Coach Jason James said. “I couldn’t be happier for a group of kids that have worked their butts off. This regional title means a lot to them and to the community. We simply locked down on defense when they got to within one, but the kids always believed and we are going to Rupp.”

A large crowd from Martin County filled the Appalachian Wireless Arena to see if the Cardinals could finally snap the drought.

Both teams were a bit nervous and the Cards committed two turnovers to start the game. Trenton Adkins broke the scoring ice with a three-pointer that put the Bulldogs in front, but that would be Lawrence County’s only lead of the night as the Cards took control.

Senior guard Braxton Maynard got the Cards going with seven straight points. Trey James dropped in four and Brady Dingess added a hoop. Cardinal fans were on their feet as the Cardinals finished off a 13-0 run to make it 13-3.

Tyler Maynard got the Bulldogs going with a pair of treys. The Cards got a trey from Parker Davis, making it 16-8. Maynard buried his second trey for Lawrence County near the end of the first quarter to make it 16-11 at the end of one.

The excitement continued as a trey by Dingess and bucket by James made it 21-11. A bucket by Lawrence County’s Cody Maynard stopped the short run but James answered with two free throws and a dunk to make it 25-13.

The Bulldogs would stay within striking distance as a triple by Tyler Maynard made it 32-23 to end the half.

Martin County fans could smell blood in the water as the third quarter got underway. Five points from Dingess widened the lead to 37-23 and forced a Bulldog timeout at the 6:40 mark.

Lawrence County used a short 6-3 spurt to close the gap to 40-29 at the 3:21 mark. The Cards kept their focus with Maynard sinking a pair of free throws and Davis making a steal and basket. The regional title seemed within Martin County’s reach as the lead grew to 48-34.

The Bulldogs stepped up their pressure and began draining the threes. Buckets by Maynard and James kept the lead at 52-40, but back-to-back treys by Adkins would close the gap to 52-48.

Adkins kept drilling threes and closed the score to 54-51. A free throw by James gave the Cards a 55-51 lead, but Lawrence County answered with a three-pointer by Cody Maynard to cut the lead to 55-54 at the four-minute mark. Junior Jordan Dalton then nailed four straight points and James rebounded a missed shot for a hoop to stretch the lead to 61-54.

“We kind of got in a bit of hurry and were not doing what we needed to do,” Martin County Coach Jason James said, “but the kids hung in there.”

Baskets by Maynard and a bucket by Chase Sartin closed the score to 61-58. Dalton drained two from the charity stripe for the Cardinals making it 63-58 with 39 seconds. Cody Maynard again hit the trey for Lawrence County to make it 63-61 with 27 seconds left.

With the score at 64-61, Dalton hit one of two from the charity stripe making it 65-61 with 12 seconds left.

Cardinal fans knew the title was won as Lawrence County had to go the length of the court and Maynard missed a three at the horn.

Trey James, Brady Dingess, Braxton Maynard, Jordan Dalton, Ethan Smith-Mills and Parker Davis will join the Sweet 16 ranks of the late Jimmy Dale Turner, Bryan Maynard, John-John Kirk, Teddy Duncan and Ed Slone of the 1983 regional championship team of Sheldon Clark High School, along with nine regional championship teams of Inez High School.

“The curse is dead and now we start a new history,” Coach James said. “I can’t wait to get to Rupp with these kids and community. Hopefully we can go down there and represent the county and school system well.

“I am really proud of these kids as they truly deserve this,” James added. “Now that we have won, I can say 15th Region champs.”

James led the Cards with 17 points. Dingess and Maynard flipped in 14 points each. Parker Davis tallied seven off the bench. Dalton not only had the game-winning free throw but pitched in 10 points total. Ethan Smith-Mills scored three.

Martin County 16 16 16 17 – 65

Lawrence County 11 12 14 24 – 61

Dingess was named the 15th Region Tournament’s “Most Valuable Player.”

Martin County’s James, Dingess, Maynard, Dalton and Smith-Mills were named to the all-tournament team.

Martin County Superintendent of Schools Larry James is canceling school next Thursday and Friday. He said he wants as many kids in Rupp Arena as possible.