EDITOR”S NOTE: The editor begs forgiveness. This game was not the regular season finale, as originally reported in error. The Clippers will play Marcellus Thursday to end the regular season.
The Martin boys’ varsity basketball team dropped a 64-33 decision to a Schoolcraft team that is state-ranked and beaten only once this season.
After trailing 9-5 in the first quarter, Schoolcraft went on a 29-7 run in the second period to take a 38-12 cushion into intermission. A 16-3 burst in the third period turned it into a rout, a 54-15 advantage as the two teams headed into the final eight minutes.
“We got off to a pretty good start in the first four minutes and then things went south for a majority of the rest of the game,” said coach David Curry. “Our early success came from executing the things we talked about in practice and pregame. Then we had a couple of turnovers and started to speed up because of the pressure and the wheels fell off from there.
Schoolcraft got hot shooting from beyond the arc and was able to convert the Clippers’ errant passes on the offensive end.
“We did a good job of breaking their press for the most part but it’s the decisions we made when we got across half court that really hurt us,” the coach said. “Defensively we didn’t play like we typically do and they kept us a little off balance with their athleticism.
“One of the good things we can take from the game is we did a really good job of boxing out most of the time and was able to keep that stat close. What it really comes down to is we turned the ball over 24 times (the most all season) and they converted them into 23 of their points.”
Schoolcraft also made 10 of 22 three-point field goal attempts.
Meanwhile, Martin’s shooting “was nothing short of horrible,” Curry said. “We were very unbalanced when we did shoot the ball and again were well below our normal shooting percentage.
The Clippers shot 33% from the floor and 25% on threes. They shot 80% from the free throw line.
“Hopefully we learn from all the things we need to a prepare ourselves to make a run in the post season,” Curry said. “Schoolcraft is a very good, athletic team that is very deep. They play well as a team on both ends of the floor. Tonight they were a bit too much for us to handle.”
Freshman Cayden Curry scored 11 points to lead the Clippers. Nobody else on the squad managed more than five, including usually high-scoring Tanner Curry, who was held to four. Curry did lead the team in rebounds with seven.
The loss dropped Martin’s overall season record to 10-9 and it was second to Bloomingdale in its Southwest Athletic Conference division.
Martin will open the Class D tournament at 7 p.m. Monday, March 6, against Battle Creek Calhoun Christian (8-7). The winner will play host Battle Creek St. Phillip (10-5) at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday.
The other teams in the tourney include Kalamazoo Phoenix (8-5), Kalamazoo Heritage Christian (2-8), Bellevue (13-1) and Kalamazoo Lakeside (5-4).
PHOTO: Tanner Curry was held to fewer than double digits in scoring for the first time this season.