Martin ran its varsity basketball season record Friday to 4-2 by topping previously unbeaten Decatur 63-60 in overtime.
Tanner Curry led all scorers with 33 points and his 14 rebounds gave him his fourth double double in a row. Garrett Dill had 12 points.
Carter Smith led Decatur with 21 points and Noah Rufo had 19.
Martin jumped out to an 18-11 lead after one quarter and led 33-29 at the half. Decatur came back in the third quarter, outscoring Martin 14-10 to make it 43-43 going into the final eight minutes of regulation.
“Decatur got the ball to open the quarter,” said Martin coach David Curry. “They did not convert and we got the rebound, went down and Dill found Keyzer under the basket to put us up two.
“On the next possession, Decatur turned the ball over. We came down and got a great inside out look to Hilton and he nailed a three to put us up by five points.”
It was Hilton’s only three points of the game, but it was a huge basket.
Carter Smith hit two consecutive baskets to cut the lead to one and a three-pointer put Decatur up. Curry was fouled and made both to tie the game at 50. Both teams had chances down the stretch but could not pull away.
“It was missed shots and turnovers the next few times up the floor for both teams until Matt MacVean found Curry underneath to tie the game again,” Coach Curry said.
Martin had one more chance to win in regulation with 1.8 seconds left. The Clippers called a time out and set up a play that was successful in every way but the final result. A miss sent the game into overtime.
Martin got the tip and Dill hit Curry under the basket. Curry hit the basket, was fouled and hit the free throw. But Decatur came back with a three to tie it.
After a missed shot, Curry grabbed another rebound, was fouled and Martin was again up by one. Decatur tied it again (56-56) but Dill hit a pair of free throws and hit Curry under the basket for an easy two and Martin held on for the victory.
“Decatur was 4-0 coming into this game,” Coach Curry said. “We knew they were going to be tough to beat but the kids had five great practices leading up to it.
“We did a good job of being patient offensively in the second half. Matt McVean got into some foul trouble and we had to put Dill at the point for quite a while in the second half. He did a good job, like Matt, of keeping the offense under control.
“The entire team did a great job of finding the open man to get us good quality shots. We moved the ball well and were able to find the open man,” Curry said.
“Decatur is a good team. They are good shooters and really rebound well. We worked hard all week on making sure we had everybody covered after a shot and the kids did a great job of not giving them many putbacks.
“We ended the game with 20 team assists,” he said. “That is a lot for us and I it think shows that they have a bunch of confidence in each other’s ability. I’m proud of the way the guys performed all game. They continue to gain confidence in each other and it shows.
“If we can continue to do the things we are good at, we will be very competitive and a tough team to beat. We still need to take better care of the basketball. Turnovers are still an issue but I know they will work to get better at making good decisions when they have the ball in their hands.”
Martin will play next at home Friday against Bloomingdale.
PHOTO: Tanner Curry (52)
