CITIZEN STAFF REPORT

INEZ — Martin County Cardinals picked up their third 57th District win 72-50 over the Magoffin County Hornets to go 3-0 in district play Jan. 23 in Inez.

The Cardinals brought a 15-game win streak into the contest and improved to 18-2 on the season.

Brayden McKenzie laced up his shoes and knocked down shots from all over the court. At the 4:03 mark in the first quarter, it was McKenzie 12 Magoffin County 3. McKenzie scored 14 points to help the Cardinals to an 18-12 lead at the end of one. 

The Cards had another 18-point second quarter to outscore Magoffin 18-14 and take a 36-26 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Martin County’s Luke Hale got going with eight points to help the Cards to an 18-13 third quarter and to push the lead out to 54-39.

The Cardinals kept up the momentum in the final quarter, outscoring Magoffin 18-11 to finish the 16th win in a row for Coach Jason James.

“It was a good district win,” James said. “Brayden came out on fire and got us off to a great start. We were able to cause some turnovers in the second half and pull away. Magoffin is a really good team. It was good to take care of them at home.”

Four players scored double figures to pace the Martin County attack.

McKenzie led all scorers with 23 points for the Cardinals. He went 9 of 12 for 82% from the field. Luke Hale flipped in 15 points and tallied seven boards. Jacob Sturgell added 13 points and eight boards. Dray Duff netted 11 points, eight assists and five boards. Matt Linville finished with seven points, seven rebounds and six blocks. Peyton Davis chipped in four points.

Ben Lafferty led Magoffin County with 16 points, Aden Barnett added 11 points, Walker Russell finished with eight points, Zane Whitaker dropped in six, Brennan Hansen added five and Ethan Salyer tallied four.

The Cardinals shot 30-of-59 for 51%. Magoffin County shot 20-of-64 for 31% for the game. Magoffin connected on 4-of-19 from the three-point line for 21%. The Cardinals had 38 boards and Magoffin had 30 rebounds.