BY BRITTNI MCCOY
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
The Martin County high school boys took down Grace Christian 93-47 in Inez on Friday night. Less than 24 hours later, they went to Pikeville’s house and stole the remote with a 74-63 win.
MC vs Grace Christian – Ten Cardinals hit the scoring column in a balanced win over Grace Christian out of Huntington, West Virginia.
Parker Watts scored over 30 points for the second time this season.
On the first play of the game, Cardinal Bryson Dials stepped into a 3 at the top of the key.
Watts had a runout to open a 5-0 lead.
Eli Mills ended the first quarter on back-to-back 3-pointers for a 29-18 advantage.
Devan Maynard challenged a Grace Christian shot before the halftime buzzer to send Martin County into the break with a 53-29 lead.
Maynard stayed hungry and opened the third quarter with two tough baskets in the paint.
To attest to the grit of this team, seniors Peyton Davis and Watts went diving for a loose ball in the middle of the floor with a 34-point lead.
The Cards hit a running clock shortly after Maynard rebounded a miss and pushed ahead to Watts for the up-and-under.
Davis nailed a 3 from the wing before the subs off the bench entered the game.
Senior Skyler Morrison received a roar from the crowd on a 3 with a hand in his face to round out the final score.
Watts scorched the nets with 32 points on 67% shooting. He was 4-7 from behind the arc and pulled down six boards.
“Teamwise, we’ve been moving the ball and finding the open guy, getting layups off the transition. That’s where most of my points come from. But it’s the ball movement that makes it happen,” Watts said after the win.
Davis fired in 15 points and had five rebounds.
Mills hit three treys on his way to 11 points and a rebound.
Dials dropped in double digits with 10 points and had one rebound.
Maynard was knocking on the door of a double-double with eight points and nine rebounds on 80% from the field.
Estep pulled 10 boards off the glass and flipped in two points.
“We finally showed a big effort on defense. Hopefully we can continue with that,” Estep said. The workhorse is averaging almost 10 rebounds per game thus far.
Heart and effort are what the senior says it takes when it comes to cleaning up the glass.
“I give 100% every game,” he concluded.
Chase Hinkle came off the bench for five points and a rebound. Alan Moore hit for four and pulled down two rebounds.
Jaxson Pack had three rebounds and three points for the Cardinals. Morrison finished with three points.
MC vs Pikeville – Martin County showed the naysayers what they’re made of this past weekend against Pikeville.
The Cards went into Pike County and brought home the hard-fought win.
“I thought these guys shut up a lot of people. We heard a lot about they don’t or can’t play any defense. I think they went out Saturday and showed everyone what they are capable of. Hopefully this is a building block for our season,” head coach Jason “JJ” James said.
Parker Watts is averaging close to 30 points per contest. He put up 27 points and almost had a double-double with eight rebounds. He was 17-21 at the free throw line.
Dials poured in 17 points on three beyond the line and pulled down five rebounds.
Davis fired in 16 points on 67% shooting. He was 4-6 from 3-point land and had two rebounds.
Devan Maynard flipped in 10 points and pulled four off the glass.
Brayden Estep hit double digits in the rebound category again with 10, his third in a row and fourth game on the season.
Eli Mills scored a bucket and had one rebound.
“We have some really tough games coming up this week, so hopefully it gives us some momentum going forward,” Coach James said.
The Cards were scheduled to host Shelby Valley on Tuesday. Details were not available at press time.
They travel to Rowan County on Thursday and Saturday to play in the Stockyards Bank Challenge.