BY BOO NEWSOME
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
INEZ — The Martin County Cardinals swept three solid basketball programs last week: Magoffin County 78-73 at home Feb. 5, Knott County Central 61-50 at home Feb. 6, and Johnson Central 103-94 on the road Thursday.
With the wins over Magoffin and Johnson Central, Coach Jason James’ Cardinals are 6-0 in 57th District Conference play and locked down the No. 1 seed.
“Obviously winning both district games gave us the No. 1 seed in the 57th District Tournament, which was great,” James said. “I thought the win over Knott was very impressive. Our legs were dead after the Magoffin County game the night before, but we were able to dig in and make some plays in the fourth quarter to pull out a win against a really good team.”
He added, “Right now, I feel like we are really clicking offensively. We just have to find a little more consistency on defense.”
Here is a recap of all three wins:
Cards swat Hornets
Martin County entered the game Feb. 5 against guest Magoffin County undefeated in the 57th District Conference. When the final horn sounded, the Cardinals had a 78-73 victory.
A nice crowd was on hand for the second match between the Cardinals and the Hornets this season. The Cardinals had defeated the Hornets 76-72 in a game Jan. 30.
The score was knotted at 18 at the end of the first quarter. Jacob Sturgell led the Cardinals with seven points.
Martin County outscored Magoffin 21-10 in the second quarter, holding Hornets star Aden Barnett to two points, for a 39-28 lead at halftime.
Magoffin County caught fire in the third quarter, scoring 26 points while holding the Cardinals to 14. Martin County trailed 54-53 at the end of the period.
The Cardinals struggled to contain Barnett in the fourth quarter. The score was tied at 68 with 1:28 left in the game when Martin County’s Jacob Sturgell was fouled. The senior drained both free throws to give Martin County the lead at 70-68.
The turning point came for Martin County when Peyton Davis drove to the basket and was fouled by Barnett—his fifth foul, forcing him to leave the game. Davis knocked down both free throws to extend Martin County’s lead to 72-70.
The Hornets struggled offensively without Barnett in the lineup, and their shot fell short. Martin County’s Brayden McKenzie was fouled with 45 seconds to go. The senior hit both free throws to give the Cardinals a four-point lead at 74-70.
The score was 74-73 when McKenzie again was fouled and scored two free throws to make it a 76-73 lead. Blake Maynard scored a basket for the Cardinals as the horn sounded to set the final score.
Sturgell led Martin County with 27 points, McKenzie followed with 17 and Luke Hale added 13. Peyton Davis netted seven points, Bryson Dials contributed six, and Devan Maynard and Blake Maynard each canned four.
For Magoffin County, Barnett scored a game-high 38 points, Russell Walker and Zane Whitaker followed with 12 points each, Grayson Whitaker added seven, and Ethan Salyer contributed four.
Notable game stats: The Cardinals hit 13 out of 14 free throws for 93%. Sturgell and McKenzie gave double-double performances—Sturgell with 27 points and 12 rebounds and McKenzie with 17 points and 11 rebounds. The Cardinals shot 51% from the field, converting on 30 of 59 attempts.
Cards defeat Knott County on ‘Senior Night’
Fresh off the win over Magoffin County the previous night, Martin County claimed a hard-fought 61-50 victory over visiting Knott County Central on “Senior Night” Feb. 6.
Coach Jason James honored seniors Luke Hale, Jacob Sturgell, Brayden McKenzie, Dray Duff, Blake Maynard and Cody Gauze. Each received a Shadow Box displaying their jersey number, a basketball and other gifts.
Duff would start the game and dribble to the sideline in the last varsity start of his high school career. He recently underwent surgery to repair a torn ACL.
This was the second meeting of these two opponents this season. The Cardinals had defeated the Patriots 54-48 in a game Dec. 4.
On this night Martin County outscored Knott County Central 16-10 in the first quarter behind 10 points by Maynard.
Knott County rallied in the second quarter, capitalizing on the Cardinals’ fatigue from the previous night’s game, to take a 29-21 lead. The Cardinals managed only five points in the period.
Both teams played evenly in the third quarter, scoring 14 points each, and Knott County held a 43-35 lead heading into the final period.
The momentum shifted in the fourth quarter. In a stunning comeback, the Cardinals outscored Knott County 26-7 to secure the win.
Hale scored 16 points to lead Martin County, B. Maynard finished with 13, Sturgell, Devan Maynard and Bryson Dials each scored eight, McKenzie pitched in seven, and Peyton Davis added one.
Jayden Huff led Knott County with 19 points, Drake Slone followed with 11, Hunter Haddly and Chance Amgurgey scored seven each, Braxton Reade chipped in four, and Michael Gibson contributed two.
Cards sweep Eagles
PAINTSVILLE — The Martin County Cardinals faced off against the Johnson Central Golden Eagles on the road Thursday and came home with a 103-94 win.
The high-scoring victory completed Martin County’s sweep of Johnson Central as the Cardinals defeated the Eagles earlier in the season 85-78.
Both teams came out in full-court pressure defense. The pace was fast with both teams getting off a lot of shots. The Cardinals had a 29-23 lead at the end of the first quarter behind nine points by Brayden McKenzie and seven by Luke Hale.
The second quarter was much the same. The Cardinals scored 28 while the Eagles scored 24. Martin County had a 57-47 lead at halftime. McKenzie finished the half with 13 points and Devan Maynard had 12. Eighth-grader Bryson Dials knocked down three treys in the first half.
The teams played evenly in the third quarter, each scoring 22 points. The Martin County pressure defense was causing Johnson Central to commit turnovers. The Cardinals took a 17-point lead, their largest of the night at 74-57. Johnson Central called for the press, and the Cardinals committed turnovers, allowing the Eagles to get back in the game. The score at the end of the quarter was 79-69. Hale scored seven points while D. Maynard added six to Martin County’s cause.
Austin Slone kept Johnson Central in the game with 23 of Johnson Central’s 25 points in the fourth quarter. The Johnson Central pressure defense was still causing havoc for the Cardinals. With 1:03 remaining, Martin County held a 95-94 lead.
Martin County decided to take the air out of the ball, forcing Johnson Central to foul and putting the Cardinals on the free-throw line to hit 6 of 9 shots. Hale scored 10 points in the final to help end an Eagles comeback.
Hale led four Martin County players in double figures with 24 points. McKenzie followed with 23, D. Maynard scored a season-high 22, and Sturgell netted 14. Dials added nine points, Peyton Davis chipped in eight, and Blake Maynard contributed three.
Slone led Johnson Central with 39 points, Brayden Shepherd followed with 17, Dawson Montgomery scored 13, Andrés Meeks chipped in 10, Kyle Rose netted nine, and Mason McKenzie scored six.
The Cardinals improved to 16-8 on the season.