BY BRITTNI MCCOY
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
INEZ — Martin County High School boys opened the season at 2-1 with wins over Huntington Expression Prep and Pike Central. The squad dropped a close one to Perry Central 77-73 in the Hazard D.J. Begley Classic.
MC vs Huntington – A team that will be known for putting up a lot of points on the board this year, the Cards made a statement in their debut with 15 3-pointers from deep.
In their season opener versus Huntington on Dec. 3, Martin County jumped out to a 24-11 lead after a Bryson Dials 3-pointer beat the buzzer.
The squad kept their foot on the pedal before the half. Peyton Davis fought for a rebound and hit the and-1 with 35 seconds remaining in the second quarter. The Cardinals defense stepped up and Davis stripped the dribble from the guard for a run-out to head to the locker room with a 46-25 lead.
The Cards kept the crowd’s attention in the blowout win when Dials laid a pass off the backboard to Devan Maynard for the one-handed slam.
On the ensuing play, Davis rebounded the basketball on the other end. He pushed up to Parker Watts who quickly passed to Maynard. With a round of hot potato, Maynard lobbed it back to Watts, who came flying in for the dunk and a 53-27 lead halfway through the third.
The Cards hit a running clock with just over two minutes remaining in the quarter.
“I’ve seen some really good things at times and then some bad things. We have got to get our defense cleaned up first,” Coach Jason “JJ” James said. “We have the ability to be a solid defensive team. We’re just out of position a lot right now.”
Senior Brayden Estep shot a blistering 71% from the floor. He was 5-7 from behind the arc and pulled down a team-high 10 boards for the double-double.
Watts led all scorers with 20 points. Dials dropped in 18 points including four from 3-point land.
Davis poured in 17 points on 58% shooting. He had six rebounds on the evening.
Maynard was just shy of double digits with eight points and seven rebounds.
Eli Mills hit a 3-pointer and pulled three down off the glass.
BJ Parsley and Alan Moore contributed with two points each off the bench.
MC vs Pike Central – With two players who will most likely be 15th Region Player of the Year contenders, this contest was sure not to disappoint. Central’s Jaden Stewart faced off against Martin County’s Parker Watts in a matchup that fans may see again during tournament time.
The two teams went back and forth in the opening quarter Thursday in Inez with Watts reeling off five straight in under a minute to knot the score up at 18.
He continued his hot streak with a play coming out of the huddle and a deep 3 to take the lead 10 seconds into the second quarter.
Bryson Dials dished off to Eli Mills in the corner for 3 to tie things up at 39 going into the locker room.
The Cards would hit 13 3-pointers on 34% shooting on the evening.
The game looked put away with just under four minutes remaining in the contest with a 77-69 Martin County lead.
Stewart and Central would not go away and pulled within one point with a minute to go.
Dials entered the paint for a wide-open layup after running 30 seconds off the clock to go up 82-79.
The point guard played both sides and forced a jump ball down the stretch.
Watts capped off his spectacular 38-point performance with two free throws to seal the deal.
The high-flying combo guard pulled down 13 rebounds for a double-double.
Davis sunk three from behind the arc to finish with 20 points and eight boards on 58% shooting.
Dials poured in 17 points on four 3-pointers and pulled down two rebounds.
Brayden Estep was shy of double digits with nine rebounds and three points.
Devan Maynard and Mills each had three points and two boards.
MC vs Perry Central – The Cards dropped a close one to Perry County 77-73 in the D.J. Begley Classic on Saturday at Hazard High School.
Martin County hit 14 3-pointers in their first loss.
Parker Watts continued to put big numbers up. He finished with 25 points and seven rebounds.
Peyton Davis shot over 50% from the floor and nailed five from outside the paint. He had 21 points and six boards.
Young gun Bryson Dials was in the double-digit column with 12 points and seven rebounds.
Devan Maynard scored six points and pulled down nine off the glass. Eli Mills added six points and had three rebounds.
Brayden Estep continues to be a rebounding threat with nine on the night. He added three points.
“This will be a week for us to get to practice every day and hopefully clean up some of our mistakes we have been making,” Coach James said.
The Cards will face off against Grace Christian out of Huntington, West Virginia, this Friday in Inez at 7:30 p.m.
They travel to Pikeville the next day before returning home to host Shelby Valley on Tuesday at 6 p.m.