Friday night was a most unpleasant experience for the Martin boys’ and girls’ varsity basketball teams, as both fell below the .500 mark at 3-4 overall with defeats at Kalamazoo Christian.
The Lady Clippers absorbed their worst beating in a long time while dropping a 57-22 decision. The boys’ contest was much closer, but they lost 52-37 to the home-standing Comets.
Boys’ coach Brad Moelker said, “The first half was one of our best stretches of the year. Our defense was flying around the ball and making everything difficult on them.”
Martin held the lead most of the first and part of the second, but going into half was down by four.
“It was also great to see our offense attack their zone and get open looks,” the coach added. “It was really the first time this year we played well against the zone.
“After halftime we came out and got a little stagnant on the offensive end. The ball movement and off the ball movement slowed down and K-Christian took advantage of that. A few missed free throws combined with K-Christian hitting some shots pushed the game out of reach.”
Collin Coburn scored 14 point with 6 rebounds and 4 assists to lead the way.
“It’s been an emotional roller coaster week for the Coburn family so we know he enjoyed playing well tonight,” Moelker said, noting the death of Coburn’s grandfather.
Mitchell Jager scored 13 and “really kept us in it with his shots. I thought Brayden Eckman did a great job of attacking their defense all night.
“I know its been a theme all year but Charley Martin had another great game defending the post. He was outsized by probably 150 pounds. He battled all night and we rallied around the post the create a few turnovers and hold their post to ten points.”
The girls will be at home against Lawton Tuesday evening, March 2. The boys will hit the road to Lawton at the same time.