BY MIKE MUNCY
PAINTSVILLE — Double-digit points by four different Cardinals propelled Martin County to a big win in their first district matchup of the season against Johnson Central on the road Jan. 3. When the dust settled it was Martin County standing tall 86-66.
Martin County came out with a lot of energy and got off to a strong start with Luke Hale stealing the tipoff and setting the Cardinals up in scoring position. Dray Duff got the pass off to Jacob Sturgell who hit the trey from the corner.
It was all Martin County from there, now with a 3-0 lead.
Johnson Central worked down the court with David Fink looking to tie things up. An errant pass landed the ball right back into the hands of Sturgell, who went for a contested layup that was unsuccessful.
The Cardinals extended their lead when Brayden McKenzie drove down the lane for a layup that missed the mark, and Sturgell came up with the second-chance points to make it 5-0.
Martin County kept the pressure on, finishing the first quarter with a 21-7 lead.
The Cardinals never trailed in this one and maintained a 20-point lead throughout the game.
Johnson Central picked up the tempo on offense in the second quarter with 16 points but it wasn’t enough to close the gap. The Cardinals added 22 points to establish a 43-23 lead heading into the locker room.
The Golden Eagles continued to improve in the third quarter and managed to cut into the Cardinal lead narrowly 63-44.
Johnson Central’s offense was plagued by turnovers, while Martin County kept the pressure on to finish the 20-point win over its district rival.
“I’m proud of how we played against Central,” Coach Jason James said.
“I thought we came out really strong, hit some shots early and forced some turnovers on them. We got up on them from the get-go and were able to keep up that momentum for the rest of the game.”
Overall the Cardinals shot at 51.5% compared to the Golden Eagles’ 35% from the field.
Martin County connected on 9-of-10 free throws for 90% and the Eagles shot 20-of-25 for 80%. The Cardinals out-rebounded the Eagles 32-29. Ethan Ferrell, McKenzie and Matt Linville each had six boards.
“It was a complete team win,” said James.
The Cardinals had 37 points off the bench.
“That’s almost unheard of for a high school team,” added James.
Peyton Davis led the charge for Martin County with 19 points. Hale followed with 15 points, Duff had 12 and Ferrell had 10. Rounding out the scoring, Sturgell added nine points, McKenzie scored eight, Linville pitched in five, and Blake Maynard and Devan Maynard each scored four points.
Ryan Rose led the Golden Eagles in scoring and rebounds with 20 points and eight boards. Austin Slone and Fink had 14 points each.
The win was the first in district play for the Cardinal. They improved to 10-2 on the season.
