BY ROGER SMITH
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
INEZ — A young Martin County Cardinal team battled against a senior-dominated Logan squad Saturday in the Zip Zone Classic. When the dust settled, the Wildcats topped the Cards 83-76.
The Cardinals held on to an 18-16 lead after the first quarter. They were slow out of the gate in the second quarter as they managed to score 13 points while Logan put up 21, fueled by Scotty Browning’s five 3-pointers in the first half.
Logan took a 37- 31 lead into the locker room to end the half.
Things heated up in the third as Cardinal “Cool” Luke Hale caught fire and went off for 15 of his 31 points. The Cardinals trailed 55-53 going into the fourth.
Logan, which starts four seniors, proved too much for the Cards. The Wildcats went off for 28 fourth-quarter points to finish the victory.
Logan showed experience down the stretch as they shot 12 for 13 from the free-throw line for a whopping 92%, while the Cardinals shot 6 for 13 from the charity stripe.
Hale led all scorers with 31 points for Martin County. Dray Duff was two assists short of a double-double with 10 points and eight assists. Brayden McKenzie fired in 12 points and Jacob Sturgill finished with 11 points and five boards. Matt Linville tossed in eight points and led his team with eight rebounds, Peyton Davis flipped in four points and Devon Maynard added two points.
The Browning brothers lead the way for Logan. Derrick Browning caught fire and made it rain threes, hitting seven for the game and leading his team with 23 points. His running mate Scott Browning scored 21 points. Julius Clancy had 14 points, Garrett Williamson finished with 10, Ivan Miller and Jarron Glick each contributed seven and Cole Blankenship pitched in two.
“I think we did a lot of good things offensively, but we can’t go 6/13 from the free-throw line and get out-rebounded by nine,” Martin County coach Jason James said. “They shot the ball really well and they are a very good team. Our team needs to be in these close-type games so they can learn how to win the close ones.”
Martin County opened the season last night at Russell. Details from that game were not available at press time. The Cardinals take Pike Central on the road Thursday and head to Hazard for the DJ Begley Classic on Saturday.
