BY ROGER SMITH
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
NAUGATUCK, W.Va. — Martin County crossed the river to Tug Valley High School last week and overpowered third-ranked Tucker County (WV) 72-53 and fourth-ranked Cameron (WV) 73-45 in the Kaydence Maynard Memorial Christmas Classic.
The Cardinals stretched their win streak to seven and moved to 9-2 on the season.
Below is a recap of both games.
MCHS 73, CHS 45
A good-sized Cardinal following made the short trip to Tug Valley High School to see Martin County trounce the Class A fourth-ranked Cameron 73-45 Thursday.
The game started slow and the score was tied 4-4 with four minutes remaining in the first quarter. The Cardinals turned up pressure defense at the 2:54 mark causing two straight turnovers and forcing Cameron to call a timeout.
Martin County followed with a 15-0 run fueled by 12 points from Luke Hale to go in front 19-6 after one.
Cameron again had no answer for Hale in the second frame. The junior drained four 3-pointers to help Martin County to a 43-20 halftime lead.
Junior Drey Duff scored at the 6:06 mark in the third to push the Cardinals up 49-25 and force Cameron to call another timeout. The Cardinals came out in their half-court trapping defense and held Cameron to seven points to go up 59-27 at the end of three.
With the game out of reach in the final quarter, Martin County Coach Jason James sent in several of his younger players. Cameron won the fourth 18-14, but it was too little too late as the Cardinals shut the door on their sixth win in a row.
Hale led all scorers with 25 points for Martin County, 23 of which came in the first half.
Matt Linville had a career night. The senior scored nine points, pulled down a career-high 21 rebounds and recorded 10 blocks for a double-double.
Peyton Davis finished with nine points, Duff and Brayden McKenzie each netted eight, Jacob Sturgell contributed six, Ethan Ferrell scored four, Devon Maynard added three, and Blake Maynard finished with one.
Cole Burkett led Cameron with 16 points, Colson Wichterman netted 11, Lance Hartley added nine, Brayden Marling scored three, and Mason DeBolt, Colton Winters and Mason Scott all finished with two points apiece.
Coach James was proud of his players.
“We played really good defense, and it got us going offensively,” James said.
“We only hit 4-for-11 from the free-throw line, so we need to improve our free-throw shooting.”
MCHS 72, TCHS 53