BY BRITTNI MCCOY
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
ASHLAND — The Martin County Lady Cards finished their season as arguably one of the best middle school teams in the mountains. The B and C teams picked up wins over Boyd County on Sept. 25 to close out the season.
The Cardinals had a convincing 26-12 win over the Lions in the C team contest.
Paige Stafford led the way with 11 points on the night, including a trey from downtown. Harper Runyon fired in double digits with 10 points.
Kenleigh Estep and Sarah McCoy each dropped in a bucket for two points and Braylee Horn sunk a free throw.
The B team game came down to the wire with the Cards escaping with a 23-19 win.
Martha Maynard was the first on the board when she followed up with a rebound and layup.
Runyon connected with Stafford for a drive down the middle of the paint for the runner to add another bucket.
Harleigh Maynard hit a three from the wing early in the second quarter to push the lead to 7-0. M. Maynard continued to make her presence felt with another putback for 9-2.
Stafford added a three-pointer assisted by H. Maynard to make it 12-2 before Boyd County called a timeout. Coming out of the huddle, M. Maynard recorded a block, and H. Maynard delivered an inbound pass to Runyon, who scored a layup for a 14-3 Martin County lead.
Stafford converted a circus shot with contact, and Estep added a free throw to give the Lady Cards a 17-5 halftime lead.
The second half saw Boyd County mount a comeback with an 8-2 run in the third quarter.
Runyon responded with two tough drives in the lane to push the lead back to 21-13 in the final stanza.
Boyd County connected on an and-1 and scored six straight to pull within two.
With 15 seconds remaining on the ticker, Estep stepped to the line. The calm and collected guard banked in the first before the Lions called a timeout to attempt to freeze the shooter.
Her second shot bounced softly off the back of the iron and dropped in to give the Lady Cards a nice four-point cushion.
The Lions got off a shot, with Stafford securing the rebound as the buzzer sounded.
The A team put up a valiant effort but fell to a highly talented Lion varsity squad 61-33.
Makenna Marcum received an applause from both sides after she knocked down six shots from long-range. Two of those were a step past the half-court line. She finished with a game-high 24 points.
Alivia Stacy knocked down a shot from behind-the-arc for three points. Kennedy Mills and KB Muncy each knocked down a bucket for two points.