BY ROGER SMITH
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
The Martin County Middle School Cardinals split a pair of games on the road last week to improve to 8-5 on the season. The Cardinals defeated Magoffin County 70-40 Thursday but fell short to Pikeville 51-41 Friday.
Below is a recap of both games.
Dials leads Cards past Magoffin
SALYERSVILLE — Martin County Middle took on the Magoffin County Hornets and came away with a decisive 70-40 victory Thursday for their eighth win of the season.
This one got off to a fast start as both teams got up and down the court, with the lead changing hands several times. The Cardinals outlasted the Hornets to take a 14-10 lead into the second quarter.
The second was a different story as the Cardinals came out firing and went on a run to score 27 points to go up 41-15 at the half.
“Magoffin County was struggling shooting the ball, so we switched to our Ameba Zone defense, and it turned the game completely around,” said Martin County Coach Josh Penix.
The Cardinal offensive machine got off to a slow start in the third quarter committing several turnovers. Magoffin took advantage and outscored the Cardinals 20-12 in the frame. The Cardinals still had the game under control as they pushed out 53-35 going into the fourth quarter.
The Cardinals tightened up their defense in the fourth and held Magoffin County to just five points to seal the win.
“We hit a slump in the third but finished the game strong,” said Penix. “I am very proud of our kids.”
Martin County had three players in double figures. Bryson Dials led all scorers with 26 points, Jerrod Haney followed with 15 and Aiden Copeland added 12. Dylan Yates flipped in eight points, Chase Hinkle contributed three, and Liam Fields, Bryson Osborne and Aiden Burke each scored two.
Evan Reed led Magoffin County with 14 points. Blake added eight points, Mike Trusty flipped in seven, Caleb added six, Game had four and Hunter chipped in one.
Cards fall short at Pikeville
PIKEVILLE — Martin County Middle School traveled to Pike County to take on a very good Pikeville team Friday. Playing back-to-back nights, the Cardinals came up a little short falling to Pikeville 51-41.
The Cardinals got off to a slow start and were behind 15-10 at the end of the first quarter.
Pikeville took advantage of the Cardinal turnovers and cold shooting in the second quarter to jump out to a 31-20 halftime lead.
The Cardinals would not go down easily as they came storming back in third to cut the lead to 38-34. The Cardinal defense kicked in and held Pikeville to seven third-quarter points.
Pikeville made a run in the fourth quarter and hung on for the win 51-41.
Bryson Dials paced the Cardinals with 23 points. Jerrod Haney finished with nine, Aiden Copeland added seven and Chase Hinkle had two.
Pikeville’s Slone led all scorers with 26 points. Little followed with 14, Muncy flipped in six, Gillespie added four and Blackburn had one.
“The slow start and playing back-to-back games caught up with us,” Coach Penix said. “We fought hard but just ran out of energy and came up a little short tonight.”
The Cardinals go to 8-5 on the season.