BY BRITTNI MCCOY
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
INEZ — The Martin County High School boys basketball squad caught some eyes over the past month during summer basketball games. Head coach Jason “JJ” James traveled to multiple states and hosted games in Inez for an overall 17-5 record.
“I think we found out we are going to be a very dangerous team,” Coach James discovered of his Cardinals.
Martin County led most of the time in three of the five losses. This included rising star Devan Maynard missing some games due to employment.
“Devan was a man out there on the court. He does a little bit of everything for us,” James said of Maynard. The versatile athlete was second in rebounds despite playing five games less than everyone. He led the team in blocks with 42.
The Cardinals recently attended the Marshall University camp. They took down Hughes out of Ohio 48-37 and pulled out a close win over Shady Springs 59-58. The Cards easily defeated Chapmanville 68-48.
“We shoot a lot of 3s and make a lot of 3s. Peyton (Davis) has shot exceptionally well this summer,” Coach “JJ” said.
Davis nailed seven 3s during one game in Inez. He was third in assists. The stat sheet stuffer was second with 40 steals. He pulled down 64 rebounds playing at guard outside of the arc.
Bryson Dials is a young starting point guard who is rated as one of the highest in his freshman class in the state of Kentucky. He led with 107 assists throughout 22 games and had 32 steals.
Coach James believed Dials “did a very good job running the offense” for the Cardinals.
Brayden Estep had 64 rebounds during summer play. Estep is a contributor everywhere on the floor. The multi-sport athlete does the things you do not see on a stat sheet and is a key player for the Cards.
Another piece to the championship puzzle is Parker Watts. The Tolsia transfer has turned heads.
Watts led the team in rebounds and steals and was second in blocks and assists. He had multiple 20+ games in scoring.
“After seeing Parker play and coaching him all summer, to me, he’s clearly the best player in our region,” remarked Coach James. “He scores at all three levels and is a terrific defender.”
With a defensive mindset and impeccable shot selection, along with the ability to get to the rim, the guard has the right kind of mixture to win games.
Watts has garnered interest from Western Kentucky University and Marshall from summer play.
