BY BOO NEWSOME
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
ASHLAND — Martin County played three games in the 68th annual Ashland Invitational Tournament last week and finished 1-2. The Cardinals lost a 65-58 contest to Jeffersontown (Ohio) Thursday, bounced back Friday to defeat Ohio County 76-70, then lost a match to Morgan County 75-58 Saturday.
All games were in the James A. Answerson Gym at Ashland Paul Blazer High School, where the Ashland Tomcats defeated the Danville Christian Warriors 60-37 in the championship game Saturday.
Below is a recap of Martin County’s games:
Chargers 65, Cards 58
Martin County lost the first round of the AIT to the Jeffersontown Chargers 65-58 Thursday.
Playing without starting point guard Drey Duff, who went down in the South Charleston game Dec. 15 with a knee injury, the Cardinals came out flat and could not get into an offensive rhythm. They trailed 9-1 with 4:56 to go in the first.
After Martin County Coach Jason James called a timeout to regroup, senior Luke Hale scored the first basket for the Cardinals with 2:53 left in the first quarter. Jeffersontown followed with a 16-4 run, prompting Coach James to call another timeout at the 1:44 mark. The Cardinals trailed 21-6 when the quarter ended.
Martin County fought back but trailed 37-23 at halftime.
The Cardinals rallied in the second half, outscoring Jeffersontown 21-14 in the third quarter. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Brayden McKenzie and Peyton Davis cut Jeffersontown’s lead to 37-29 with 6:33 remaining in the third. The Cards closed the gap to 40-34 on a 3-pointer by Hale and a layup by McKenzie with 4:59 showing on the clock. Davis drove down the middle and assisted McKenzie for a dunk to get as close as 44-40, but the quarter ended with Martin County trailing 51-44.
Bryson Dials connected on a 3-pointer to start the fourth quarter. A McKenzie basket got Martin County to within 53-49, but that was as close as the Cardinals would get as Jeffersontown ran away with the game.
“We faced early challenges, trailing 21-6 at the end of the first quarter,” Coach James said. “Despite our efforts, we couldn’t close the gap.”
McKenzie led Martin County with 20 points, Davis finished with 11, Hale dropped in 10, Jacob Sturgell added seven points, Devan Maynard netted six, Dials chipped in three and Blake Maynard contributed one point.
McDaniels led Jeffersontown with 21 points, Calvin Nichols knocked down 16, Damere Clark finished with 13, Omarie Cox added 10, Joseph Jones netted three and Jaylen Ellis chipped in two.
MC 76, OC 70
Martin County nipped Ohio County 76-70 Friday. The Cardinals rallied late in the fourth quarter for a 76-70 win.
The first quarter ended in a 12-12 deadlock.
With 4:08 left in the second quarter, Martin County went on a 12-7 run to go up 24-19. Peyton Davis connected on a 3-pointer to make it 27-19—the Cardinals’ largest lead of the game. Ohio County fought back and cut the Martin County lead to 29-28 with 50 seconds left in the quarter, then tied it 29-29 before time ran out.
Ohio County outscored Martin County 24-14 in the third quarter. Martin County came out cold, while Ohio County started with a 6-0 run to take the lead 35-29 with 5:32 showing on the clock. After a timeout by Martin County Coach Jason James, Ohio County extended the lead to 38-29.
Jacob Sturgell scored Martin County’s first basket of the quarter with a 3-pointer at the 4:14 mark. Luke Hale came alive at the 1:33 mark, hitting back-to-back treys. When the horn sounded on the third quarter, Ohio County was in front of a 53-43 lead.
The Cardinals faced a huge challenge but were undeterred in mounting a comeback, scoring 33 points in the fourth quarter. A 3-pointer by McKenzie and five straight points by Hale got the Cards to within four points, 59-55 with 3:36 remaining. Hale struck again at the 2:26 mark for his fifth long-distance dagger of the game on an out-of-bounds play for another 3-pointer to close the deficit to 63-61. McKenzie picked up a loose ball and went the length of the court for a slam dunk to tie the game at 63 with 2:06 to go.
McKenzie, who scored 17 points in the fourth quarter, again drove to the basket with 1:46 to go. He drew a foul for the old-fashioned three-point play to give the Cards a 69-66 lead. Bryson Dials hit two free throws with 46 seconds to go.
Hale, who scored 18 points in the last quarter, added two free throws with 29 seconds remaining to put the game out of Ohio County’s reach.
The Cardinals shot 41% from behind the 3-point line.
Hale led Martin County with a game-high 34 points, McKenzie finished with 17, Sturgell netted nine, Davis added six, Blake Maynard scored five, Dials chipped in three and Devan Maynard flipped in two.
Elijah Decker led Ohio County with 21 points, Carter Young added 16, Caleb Manning scored 11, Carson Kennedy tallied 10, Ryan Durham contributed seven and Bo Morse scored five.
Cougars 75, Cards 58
Martin County lost to the Morgan County Cougars 75-58 Saturday.
The score was tied at 15 at the end of the first quarter.
Morgan County outgunned the Cardinals 19-11 in the second quarter to go up 33-26 by halftime.
Luke Hale scored 13 points in the third quarter, including three 3-pointers, to keep the Cardinals close. Morgan County answered with four 3-pointers by Preston Hoskins to help the Cougars outscore the Cardinals 19-16.
Martin County ran out of gas in the fourth quarter. Hoskins continued to rain 3-pointers, knocking down three more of his nine total for the game, to help Morgan County outscore Martin County 23-16 for the win.
Hale led Martin County with 25 points, including six 3-pointers. McKenzie finished with points, Peyton Davis added seven, Eli Mills netted six, Devan Maynard and Bryson Dials each chipped in four, and Jacob Sturgell and Blake Maynard each flipped in two.
Hoskins led Morgan County with 27 points, Gatlin Griffith finished with 13, Logan Spencer netted 10, Eli Griffith scored eight, Cameron Adams contributed seven, Allen Justice flipped in six, and Asher Gamble and Cody Dagnan each added two points.
The Cardinals will be back in action Friday at home against 57th District rival Johnson Central.