by Jon M. Gambee Martin Bureau Chief

Martin’s basketball season came to an end Wednesday in a 74-72 overtime defeat to Kalamazoo Phoenix.

Martin fell behind early by as many as 11, 14-3, but battled back to push the game into extra minutes.

Tanner Curry led Martin with another outstanding double double with 28 points and 16 rebounds against a taller and quicker Fury squad.

Phoenix led 19-16 at the end of the first quarter and led 36-34 at the half.

Garrett Dill playing his last game for Martin, scored 16 points and Andrew Keyzer, another senior, finished with 4. Freshman Carter Hilton had 13.

“The game, for us, came down to free throws and rebounding,” said Martin Coach David Curry. “We are a 71% free throw shooting team and last night we shot 63%. We definitely had our chances as we got to the line 38 times but only converted 24 of them.”

Martin trailed until 3:18 left in the second quarter when Curry muscled his way inside to give the Clippers a 26-25 lead. He then hit a three from the top of the key to make it 29-25, Martin’s biggest lead of the game. Phoenix came back, however, with two threes from Shelton Gibson and one from Kobe Davis-Johnson.

Martin scored first in the third quarter as Hilton drove the baseline to tie the game at 36. Martin led only one more time during regulation, at the 1:19 mark of the fourth quarter when Hilton drove the lane to give the Clippers a 62-61 advantage.

Gibson hit a three with 26 second left in the game to make it 64-62, setting up last second heroics for Curry. Curry scored as time expired to tie the game at 64 and sent it into overtime.

Martin led twice during the overtime period, 66-64 and 68-66. A free throw by Matt MacVean tied things at 69.

The Fury went up by four, 73-69 and Curry got things close again with a three but Davis-Johnson iced things for Kalamazoo with a free throw with 9.5 seconds left.

“Phoenix is a very athletic team that did a good job of crashing the boards and as a result out rebounded us by a 48-35 margin,” Coach Curry said.

“I’m so proud of the fight these kids have had in them the entire year. I’ve said it before and I will say it again, they never quit. There was never a time that we ever thought we couldn’t pull a game out, no matter what the score was.

“Hopefully, they don’t let this game overshadow what we have accomplished this year. They have laid a great foundation for the future of this program and I think have brought great pride to this community. I’m told time and time again by people of the community and opposing fans, how much fun it is to watch these kids play. It says a lot about the character and grit these kids have. They have taken a program that had only won a few games in the years prior to when I was hired and have started something great. They won five the first year, ten the second, and ended with a 15-6 record this year. They were able to win our division with a perfect 10-0 record. Something that hasn’t been accomplished in 20 years here.”

Kalamazoo Phoenix will play for the district championship Friday against Heritage Christian, which beat Kalamazoo Lakeside Wednesday 83-65.

PHOTO; Garret Dill (24) goes up for a shot against Kalamazoo Phoenix.