Martin played a quality first half of basketball, but eventually fell short to an opponent with an 11-2 overall record by a 59-51 count.

The Clippers, who led 14-13 and 25-21 after the first two periods, sputtered offensively in the third quarter and then watched the Blackhawks pull away. Martin now is 8-6 overall and 5-1 in its Southwest Athletic Conference division.

“Tonight we played about as well as we could have against Fennville and came up just a bit short,” coach David Curry lamented. “The kids went out and did a tremendous job of executing our game plan. We got off to a great start showing great patience offensively and taking advantage of their defensive mistakes. I thought our shot selection was very good. It was something we thought was very important to give us a shot to win.”

It was a very close, back and forth game from the start, but the Clippers  were able to control the tempo and tried to limit Fennville’s offensive possessions and forced them to get a little impatient.

The Blackhawks made a good run in the third to put Martin down by four, 38-34, at the end of the third quarter.

“We kept digging and made a run of our own to tighten the game,” Curry said. “We had to start fouling at the end to get as many offensive possessions that we could and they were able to knock down their free throws. They are a great shooting team and handle defensive pressure very well.”

Indeed, the Blackhawks went to the free throw line 23 times and connected on 17. Martin, by contrast only got to the line 6 times and made 4 of them.=

“Between that and us turning the ball over six times more than they did, was the difference in the game,” the coach added. “All in all I’m very proud of our effort tonight. The kids did everything we asked and more and our bench did one heck of a job when they were called on.”

Senior center Tanner Curry led Martin with 28 points, sohomore Carter Hilton had 10.
Curry also gathered 11 rebounds and Hilton 6. Senior guard Andrew Boss collected six assists.

PHOTO: Tanner Curry looks to make a pass in a game earlier this season.