by Jon M. Gambee
Martin moved a step closer to a Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference (SAC) North Division championship Friday with a convincing 63-53 victory over Decatur.
Earlier this season, the Clippers topped Decatur in overtime, 63-60.
The victory moves Martin to a 7-0 record in the division, while Decatur, its closest rival, slipped to 5-2, with both losses at the hands of the Clippers.
Decatur started strong, jumping out to an 18-11 lead in the first quarter but Martin outscored them 11-7 in the next eight minutes to trail by only three (25-22) at the half.
“We actually held the lead momentarily in the first quarter,” said Martin Coach David Curry. “About midway through the first (Garrett) Dill came up with a steal and converted at the other end to put us up 8-7. Decatur then went on a 11-3 run to lead by three at the half.”
Martin took the halftime break to put together the strategy needed to come back.
“We talked about the way we were supposed to be attacking their defense and made a couple of adjustments that we thought would help us offensively,” Curry said. “We were pretty good defensively, but needed to do a better job of keeping them off the glass. They had eight offensive rebounds at that point and we knew we had to do a better job boxing out if we were going to win.”
Decatur was the first to score in the third period to take a five-point lead.
“We then tied it at 27 with a three from (Matt) MacVean during a 10-0 run,” Curry said.
Martin went up by seven at one point and led 41-38 going into the final eight minutes of play.
“Decatur would never get closer than that for the remainder of the game,” Curry said. “We were able to get up by as much as 13 at one point in the fourth quarter and ended up winning by 10. Once again, the kids did a tremendous job of showing great patience offensively and we were able to get a bunch of high percentage shots.
“With about four minutes left in the game you could see their confidence, as they were content just running the offense for extended periods of time. This patience forced Decatur to either foul us or give up an easy bucket. When they did foul we were able to knock down the free throws.
Indeed, Martin was 11 of 12 from the free throw line in the final quarter to seal the win.
Garrett Dill led Martin in scoring with 24 points. Tanner Curry had another double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds. The Clippers got a tremendous game out of freshman Carter Hilton, who finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds for the first double-double of his young career.
MacVean had eight points and and was credited with doing a good job directing the offense. He finished with four assists. Curry led in that department with six.
“Hopefully, Dill has gotten back on track with his shooting,” Curry said. “His shot has been off a bit the last couple of weeks and he has struggled a bit offensively. He has worked hard to get his shot back on track, working with coach Robert VandenBerg, and it definitely showed tonight.
Martin is now 11-5 overall. The Clippers will play a divisional make-up game Lawrence Tuesday, Feb. 23, and travel to Bloomingdale for a divisional matchup Friday. Martin beat Lawrence 72-57 on Dec. 18 and beat winless Bloomingdale 59-44 on Jan 15.
The Clippers will finish the regular season with Schoolcraft at home Tuesday, March 1, and division foe Marcellus (Senior Night) on Friday, March 3. Martin beat Marcellus 54-38 on Jan. 29.
The Martin girls defeated Decatur 43-33 Friday evening, coming off a tough overtime loss earlier in the week at the hands of Kalamazoo Christian, a game in which senior center Jazmine Hildebrand scored 35 points.
PHOTO: Garrett Dill (24) scored as many points Friday night as the number on his uniform. (Photo courtesy Jon Gambee)