BY BOO NEWSOME
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
WARFIELD — Eden Elementary swept the Martin County boys elementary basketball tournaments, winning the A, B- and C-team championships.
Eden coach BJ Endicott was proud of his three teams, saying, “Our kids worked hard all season and it paid off for them.”
The tournaments, organized by elementary athletic director John Horn, were played Dec. 13 and Dec. 15 in front of a capacity crowd at Martin County Middle School.
Here is a recap of the championship games.
A-team
The undefeated Eden A-team beat Inez 40-20 in the title game Friday night.
The No. 2-seed Indians beat the Warfield Red Devils earlier in the week to advance to the final.
Behind the double-digit scoring of guard Luke Preece, Eden established a 9-3 first-quarter lead and did not trail throughout the game.
Preece scored seven points in the second quarter to help the Wildcats to a 19-9 lead at halftime. He stayed warm after coming out of the locker room and scored seven more in the third quarter.
The Wildcats did not let up in the fourth frame as they earned net-cutting rights.
Preece led all scorers with 18 points, Chucky Leonard added seven, Skyler Green scored six, Brayden Marshall flipped in five, and Hunter Phelps and Parker Stafford chipped in two each.
Kason Evans and Brayden Hammond scored five each to lead Inez, Zaden Tackett and Jonah McCoy added three apiece, and Rocco Maynard and Blaine Williams chipped in two each.
B-team
Eden B-team beat Inez 17-11 in the fiercely contested championship battle.
The No. 2-seed Inez Indians advanced to the final by defeating Warfield earlier in the week.
Inez took a 5-4 lead in the first quarter. Eden came out in the second frame and scored nine points to pull ahead 13-9 by halftime.
The excitement continued in the third quarter as Inez scored six points to trail 16-15.
The Wildcats dialed up nine fourth-quarter points to secure the win.
Jonah Mills led Edeb with six points, Brock Fields and Kaiden Bertling added five, Parker Stafford drained four, and Grayson Mollette and Zander Sammons tossed in two each.
Rocco Maynard led Inez with nine points, Jonah McCoy added four, and Kayden McCoy and Kason Evans flipped in two each.
C-team
Eden C-team claimed the county championship title in a 12-9 win over Inez.
The No. 2-seed Inez Indians earned their place in the finals by defeating the Warfield Red Devils earlier in the week.
This marked the third meeting between Eden and Inez this season.
Eden took a 3-0 lead in the first quarter, extended it to 11-4 by halftime, then cruised to the win.
Kingston Deskins led all scorers with seven points for Eden. Teammate Lyric Howell followed with three points and Jaxon Maynard added two.
Bentlee Copley led Inez with five points and Brantley Marcum added four.
