BRITTNI MCCOY
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
OWENSBORO — Martin County (12-5) looked right at home under the bright lights of the All “A” State Tournament at the Owensboro Sportscenter. The Cardinals turned steals into runouts and rolled past Breathitt County (11-8) 93-65 Thursday in the first round.
With the win, Martin County advances to the Elite Eight to face Walton-Verona (12-7) at 5:30 p.m. EST Friday.
Bryson Dials and Braxton Keathley combined for 57 points in a game that belonged to a Cardinals team that put up a solid defensive performance. The first quarter featured eight lead changes and two ties in what appeared would be a back-and-forth contest. The Red and White thwarted those plans.
“We played really well from the second quarter on,” Martin County coach Jason “JJ” James said.
Martin County senior Alan Moore opened up the game with a bucket slicing into the paint. A Dials steal up top and a bucket in transition followed in a quick start.
Breathitt answered with a kickout 3-pointer and went on a 9-0 run.
Devan Maynard responded with a shot from beyond the arc before he picked up his second foul.
Dials attacked the rim, drew contact and finished for an old-fashioned three-point play to make it a one-point game.
Martin County reclaimed the lead when Dials drove right by his defender for an open bucket in the lane to make it 12-11, but the margin flipped again on the other end. Keathley answered with a quick push-ahead layup for a 14-13 edge, only for Breathitt to score at the basket to go back in front with 2:12 remaining.
Brayden Marcum whipped a pass to Eli Mills on the wing and he buried a 3-ball to put the Cardinals up 17-15. Dials followed with a stop-and-pop jumper from the top, but Breathitt hit a corner 3 out of a timeout to tie it.
The final minute of the quarter belonged to Martin County’s pressure. Keathley jumped a passing lane and scored through two defenders. Marcum picked a pocket in the backcourt and went coast-to-coast for another layup. Breathitt banked in a 3 in the final seconds, but Martin County still led 24-23 after one.
The second quarter was the beginning of the end. Moore rebounded a Cardinal miss and stuck back the putback.
Keathley stole a pass and dunked on the other end. Dials swiped another ball near midcourt and drew a blocking call, calmly knocking down both free throws. Moments later, Keathley and Marcum smothered the ball handler at the top of the key to force Breathitt to burn a timeout.
The Bobcats briefly responded to cut the lead to 30-28, but Martin County answered with its best stretch of the night.
Keathley spun into a turnaround jumper in the paint. On the following possession, he dribbled behind the back and finished at the rim.
Mills ignited the crowd with a block and Keathley split two defenders for another layup to push the lead back out to eight.
From there, Martin County kept stacking stops and free throws. Dials found Chase Hinkle in the corner, and when the defense closed, Hinkle kicked to Keathley on the wing for a deep three to give himself 17 first-half points.
Dials tacked on two more free throws late for 16 points before the break. Breathitt scored at the buzzer to head to the locker room with Martin County up 49-33. It’s the closest the Bobcats would get.
Within the first 15 seconds of the second half, Keathley fed Maynard under the basket for a quick score. After a Breathitt bucket, Keathley let his defender fly by and slipped in for another layup. Dials answered a Breathitt 3-pointer with a wing triple of his own.
Maynard delivered the exclamation point a few possessions later. He faked a handoff up top, watched his defender bite and then exploded to the rim for a one-handed dunk. On the next push, Maynard pushed the ball ahead to Dials for a reverse layup, and the lead swelled again.
Keathley hit another dagger by stopping and popping a transition 3. A few minutes later, Maynard picked off a pass and Keathley cleaned up a miss on the offensive glass to make it 67-42. Marcum forced another turnover, Keathley found Dials for a layup, and Martin County carried a 24-point lead into the fourth.
Mills was hot from deep in the final quarter. He drilled a long-range bomb early, then later buried a corner trey off a Dials drive-spin-n-dish.
With the outcome decided, the Cardinals’ bench delivered the closing highlights. Chase Hinkle converted an and-one after a steal and a full-court drive. Luke Preece finished a drive by switching hands at the rim to cap the Cardinal scoring on the day.
Martin County finished 35 of 65 from the field (53.8%), hit nine 3-pointers and was a perfect 14 of 14 at the free-throw line.
Keathley led the way with 32 points, six rebounds, two assists and three steals. Dials packed the boxscore with 25 points, seven assists, six rebounds, three steals and three blocks.
Maynard scored 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting, hit both shots from 3-point range and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds. He added a block, a steal and an assist.
Mills had 11 points, five rebounds, two assists and three blocks while hitting 3 of 5 from beyond the arc.
Marcum added four points, four rebounds and three assists to go with a team-high six steals. Moore chipped in four points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Hinkle finished with three points, a rebound, an assist and a steal. Preece scored a bucket for two points. Braxton Maynard grabbed a rebound and a steal. Bentley Bowman, Bradley Hatfield, and Rex Ward each secured a rebound.
Scoring for Breathitt County: Payton Collins 19 pts, Austin McInnis 12, Jaron Fugate 7, Ethan Sizemore 7, Aiden Combs 6, Caleb Neace 5, Jagger Burton 4, Jake Fugate 3, Adam Spencer 2
Looking ahead to Friday’s quarterfinal matchup, Coach James expects a challenge.
“The game against Walton-Verona will be tough,” he said, “but I think we have a good chance.”