BY BOO NEWSOME
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN

INEZ — The Martin County Cardinals opened the season with a hard-fought 92-88 overtime win against a talented Huntington Prep Expression team Nov. 29 at home.

The Cardinals had a 28-20 at the end of the first quarter and stretched it to 51-39 by halftime.

Martin County went cold in the second half as Huntington Prep rallied to win the third and fourth quarters and tie the game at 79 at the end of regulation.

Huntington Prep had a chance to secure the victory with 1.1 seconds remaining on the clock. Prep went to the free throw line for two shots but came up empty-handed.

Martin County outscored Huntington Prep 13-9 in the overtime period to pull out victory.

Senior Luke Hale led all scorers with 35 points, while senior Jacob Sturgell followed with 25. Byrson Dials finished contributed nine points, Peyton Davis added eight, Blake Maynard and Dray Duff each contributed six points, and Devin Maynard flipped in three.

Jace Coats led Huntington Prep with 29 points, Jackson finished with 19 points, Olango added 17 points, Christian Brown flipped in 10 points, Sharp chipped in seven points and Cox contributed six.

Martin County coach Jason James acknowledged his team’s strong start but stressed the need for improvement on defense and smarter play throughout the entire game.

“We came out with energy against Huntington Prep and was scoring with the ball with ease and had the pace where we wanted it,” James said. “In the second half, we came out flat – and I have to give them credit, they started to make some shots. They have a really nice team with a lot of big-time athleticism. I didn’t think we finished the game very good, either. We have to be much smarter and commit to 32 minutes of defense.”