by Jon Gambee
Martin earned a spot in the District
109 finals Friday at Climax-Scotts High School with an easy 73-16 victory over the Calhoun Christian Cougars Wednesday evening.
The Clippers will face Heritage Christian, 54-51 winners over host Climax in the first game played Wednesday. Martin will take a 10-11 record into the finals, while Heritage Christian will come in at 9-12.
Martin rushed out to a 21-7 lead after the first eight minutes and, in fact, the Cougars did not add to that total until there was only 1:18 left in the half. Martin led 51-10 at the intermission and a running clock shortened the final 16 minutes. The score was 59-13 going into the final quarter and by that time the Clipper bench had been cleared. Every Martin player scored in the game. That goal was reached when sophomore Collin Warner hit a 14-foot jumper with two minutes left to play.
Sophomore Tanner Curry led all scorers with 12 points. Garrett Altman had 10 and Garrett Dill finished with nine. Matt MacVean and Andrew Boss each had eight.
When asked if he thought sitting his starters for nearly three fourths of the game, Coach David Curry said he did not think so.
“We talked about it,” he said. “My biggest concern was that we not play to their level but I think we did a good job with that.”
Curry said he feels his team will be ready to go Friday against Heritage Christian.
“We scrimmaged against them in the pre-season,” Curry said. “They are a good team, but if we play our game, I think we will be OK.”
Curry said he was most proud of his team’s intensity on defense. Calhoun Christian never looked comfortable with the basketball and never got its offense in gear. They could not get good shots at the basket and even when they got the ball inside they had trouble finding the goal.
The Cougars ended their season with a record to 1-20.
PHOTO: Sophomore point guard Matt MacVean contributed eight points to the Martin district semifinal victory. (Photo courtesy Jon Gambee)
