Martin certainly can’t be accused of easy scheduling this boys’ basketball season.

The Clippers, who dared take on two Class B teams in the Cornerstone Holiday Tournament last month, dared to be great again against Class B Kelloggsville Tuesday night, losing 56-45 to a team that is now 11-2 overall and in second place in the O-K Silver Conference, runner-up only to Wyoming Godwin Heights the state’s top ranked Class B team.

Martin had a horrible start to the evening, falling behind 20-7 and 40-16 at the first two period stops. The Rockets had only 16 points in the entire second half, but the Clippers’ comeback was too little, too late.

“From the start of the game, we started digging a hole that looked as though we couldn’t dig ourselves out of,” coach David Curry lamented. “We went down 12-2 right out of the gate and things snowballed from there. Our defense wasn’t doing the things we wanted them to do and neither was our offense. We were not helping on the drives like we normally do and we were dribbling way too much on offense.”

The coach said his team struggled with Kelloggsville’s defensive pressure in the first half.

“Once we righted the ship at the half, we were able to come out and chip away little by little at the 24-point deficit we created in the first half,” Curry said. “Our defense was outstanding. We were making them commit a lot of turnovers on offense and in turn were able to cash in offensively with our typical aggressive play at the other end.”

Martin cut the lead to 18 by the end of the third and got it to within six late in the fourth, but after misfiring on the offensive end, the team had to start fouling.

“They did what they had to do by making their free throws at the end and we had to go to shooting threes, which we weren’t able to connect on,” Curry said.  “I’m very very proud of our effort in the second half. It’s never easy to come out of halftime down by as much as we were and make a run to put ourselves in a position to have a shot at winning. As I’ve said before, the grit this team has and their inability to never lay down, no matter what the score is, is unbelievable. That is something that you can’t really coach. It has to come from within.”
Senior center Tanner Curry led the Clippers with 17 points, Andrew Boss had had nine and Cayden Curry and Matt MacVean seven apiece. Curry also had 16 rebounds and Boss nine.

Martin now is 7-5 overall with a 4-1 record in the Southwest Athletic Conference.