BY BRITTNI MCCOY
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
WARFIELD — Eden Elementary completed a clean sweep of the Martin County Elementary School tournament last week, winning all four divisions and punctuating the run with a dominant performance in the marquee matchup.
The Wildcats rolled past Inez 45-16 in the A team championship on Jan. 15 at Martin County Middle School. The Cats built a 15-4 lead after one quarter and never let the Indians find footing. Eden led 32-10 at halftime, pushed the margin to 37-10 after three and closed out the championship with a 45-16 final.
Eden set the tone immediately. Parker Stafford opened the scoring by driving from the corner and dishing to Jonah Mills in the paint for two. Brock Fields followed with a cross-court pass to Blaine Williams for a long two to make it 4-0. After an Inez turnover, Williams found Stafford in the corner, where he squared up and knocked down his first 3-pointer of the game.
Another Inez turnover led to a Wildcat score. Stafford rebounded an Eden shot, was fouled on the putback, and buried both free throws to stretch the lead to 9-0 halfway through the first quarter. Inez got on the board when Bentlee Copley drilled a corner jumper, and Jayce McCoy floated a runner in the lane to cut it to 9-4.
Eden answered with a closing surge. Stafford drove in for two, then Inez tried to inbound but Kaiden Bertling was lying in wait. He deflected the pass, recovered it, dribbled out and hit a long two.
After another Inez turnover, Williams pushed the ball ahead to Fields to round out the first-quarter scoring as Eden took a 15-4 lead into the break. In the final moment of the quarter, Beckam Spaulding blocked Rocco Maynard with 0.5 seconds left. Spaulding then hit a 3 at the buzzer, but it was waved off.
Eden struck again to open the second quarter. With the Wildcats holding the first possession, Williams delivered a pass to Fields in the corner for a 3-pointer and an 18-4 advantage.
J. McCoy answered for Inez with a step back 3 to make it 18-7, but Stafford responded in a big sequence. He stuffed an Indian attempt on one end, then came back down to drill a 3-pointer from deep for Eden’s next points and a 21-7 lead.
The Wildcats’ ball movement kept producing clean looks. Fields found Williams for a deep wing 3-pointer to extend it to 24-7, then Bertling picked off a pass on the next trip and raced in for a breakaway layup to make it 26-7. Stafford hit another deep 3 to push the lead out and secure the running clock during the second quarter.
Kash Howell stopped Eden’s 11-0 run by tickling the twine from long range for Inez, but Eden had the final say before halftime. Williams found Bertling in the corner off an inbounds pass and he finished for the final score of the half as Eden went to the locker room up 32-10.
Bertling opened the second-half scoring with a scoop shot coming out of the break. Stafford scored again midway through the third on a rebound and putback for two points. He added a free throw as Eden’s defense held Inez scoreless in the third quarter to take a 37-10 lead into the fourth.
Bertling started the fourth the same way he started the second half. He hit a corner runner for Eden to make it 39-10. After an Eden steal, Bertling found Stafford running the lane, and he finished the breakaway for two.
Inez got a late boost when Maynard hit a 3-pointer, but the deficit was too large to threaten. Meade scored just under two minutes remaining for Eden.
A bright spot for Inez, Howell closed the night with the final points. He grabbed a shot off the glass off an Eden miss on one end and knocked down a step back shot from long range on the other to complete the scoring.
Stafford was on fire and led Eden with 18 points, eight rebounds, an assist, three steals and three blocks. Bertling added 11 points, seven rebounds, four steals and dished out three assists.
Williams finished with five points, five rebounds, four assists and swiped a steal. Fields scored five points with three boards and two assists.
Meade had four points, and Mills added two points, two rebounds, a steal and a block. Spaulding grabbed three rebounds, had a steal and delivered a late block in the first quarter.
Howell led all Inez scorers with six points. J. McCoy fired in five points, Maynard had three and Copley added a bucket for two.
Eden also won the county tournament’s B, C1 and C2 divisions to complete a four-division sweep.
Play-in: Inez 42, Warfield 15 – Inez jumped out to a 17-2 lead after one quarter and never looked back in the A-team play-in game against Warfield on Jan. 13. The Indians led 23-5 at halftime, 33-11 after three and closed out the win, 42-15.
Kayden McCoy and Bentlee Copley ignited Inez early, scoring six points apiece to open the game. Rocco Maynard added a 3-pointer and a basket for five points in the first quarter as Inez built separation quickly. Warfield’s Hunter Burchette scored the Red Devils’ only points of the opening period.
Inez kept control in the second quarter behind a basket from Brantley Marcum, two points from Maynard and a bucket from Jayce McCoy.
Warfield got a field goal and a free throw from Jackson Ray to trim the deficit, but the Indians stayed in command.
K. McCoy stayed hot coming out of halftime. He knocked down three shots for six points in the third quarter. Copley and Maynard added baskets in the period.
Warfield’s Paxton Pauley provided a spark by drilling two 3-pointers for six points.
In the fourth, sharpshooter Kash Howell hit a shot from behind the arc for Inez. Copley, Maynard and J. McCoy each scored two points in the closing period.
For Warfield, Aaron Dalton and Hunter McGinnis scored two points apiece down the stretch.
K. McCoy led all scorers with 12 points. Maynard scored 11 and Copley finished with 10. J. McCoy bucketed four, Howell had three for the Indians and Marcum added two.
Pauley led Warfield with six points. Ray scored three for the Red Devils. Burchette, Dalton and McGinnis finished with two points apiece.
