BY BRITTNI MCCOY
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
WARFIELD – The Martin County Middle School boys basketball team opened their season on Nov. 1 in Warfield, Ky. Bryson Dials dropped 32 points to lead the Cards to a 70-47 win against Elkhorn. The team lost a close contest to May Valley 72-68 and Shelby Valley 33-60.
“We are young but talented. We have a tough schedule, and the next four to five games are going to be a test,” first year head coach Josh Penix said.
Aiden Copeland and Jarred Haney scored double digits with 13 and 11 against Elkhorn, respectively. Dylan Yates hit for five points, Aiden Burke nailed four, Chase Hinkle scored three points, and Kruze Howell chipped in with two.
“Overall, the first game against Elkhorn was to be expected. We started a little slow but picked the pace up and finished the game strong. Ultimately, we had some major improvements from our scrimmages and rebounded the ball better,” Coach Penix added.
In 7th grade action, the Cards easily won by a 65-17 score. Brayden Marcum trickled in 14 points to lead the squad. Jaxson Pack went for 10 points. Hinkle nailed eight points. Landon Hager and Braiden Fannin had six points each in the high scoring affair. Howell, Dylan Hale, and Spencer Workman finished with four points to round out the scoring column.
“The 7th grade team really impressed me. They started strong from the start to the finish and really had a balanced scoring attack,” Coach said.
Dials scorched the nets once again versus May Valley when he poured in a red hot 39 points. Copeland hit double digits for the second time with 14 points. Haney nailed nine points, Liam Fields had five, and Yates chipped in with one.
In the match-up versus Shelby Valley, Dials led with 10 points. Yates dropped eight points. Haney and Hinkle pitched in five points each. Copeland hit a three. Howell nailed a bucket for two.
The squad was scheduled to host a Louisa team on Tuesday that was loaded last year and has a top player in the area. The Cards will travel to play a tough Belfry team on Thursday.