Martin sets record
ACHS senior helps Mavs fly past Eagles
Conner Martin set the single game scoring record for An- derson County High School last Tuesday with a 40-point effort against Gibbs. (photo:Tony Cox )
Martin scored a school record 40 points in the game. He helped stake the Mavs to a 30-16 first quarter lead and a 56-28 halftime lead.
“We were aware of how close he was to the record,” said Derek Wallace, head coach of the Mavericks. “I think he had 29 at the half. That was our halftime speech to ‘Let’s go get this’ and get other guys some playing time.”
The Eagles had no answer for Martin in either half as Anderson rolled to the victory.
“It was a region win,” Wallace said. “We play real well on Mondays and Tuesdays. We haven’t put it together on a Friday yet. We played well and had a lot of energy. A lot of different guys made shots and that makes all the difference.”
Gibbs 16 12 13 13 54
AC 30 26 22 11 89
Gibbs - Bryson Palmer (15), Braden Graves (13), Zach Turner (8), Bryson Walker (7), Cash Mount (6), Connor Atkins (4), Kaleb Muncy (1)
AC - Connor Martin (40), Carter Nelson (9), Brandon McGhee (7), Bryson Vowell (6), Tate Russell (5), Cole Russell (5), Brandon Dake (4), Jacob Dooley (3), Zeke West (3), Ethan Degenhart (2), Ryan McGhee (2)
The Mavericks suffered a tough road loss at Scott Friday night by a score of 73-50.
“Both Clinton [the previous Friday night] and Scott jumped out on us,” Wallace said. “Against Clinton, we didn’t make any effort to cut into their lead until the second half. We actually had it cut back down to single digits. We had a kid who got the rebound fall over and they got the rebound and it was an ‘and one’ play for them.
“It was two huge crowds the last two Fridays and only having Connor [Martin] with varsity experience this year, we have been overwhelmed by the crowd and by the intensity of what Clinton and Scott both brought to the table,” he said.
“We’ve got some work to do to be able to compete at that level,” Wallace said. “We’ve got a bunch of games in a very small amount of time. Hopefully we can start getting ready for the second part of the season.”
In front of a raucous crowd, the Highlanders rocketed to a 22-4 first-quarter lead. Anderson County managed to cut into the Scott lead slightly in the second quarter, trailing 40-15 at the half.
At one point in the third quarter, the Mavs trimmed the deficit to 10 points before a three-point play gave Scott momentum and it extended the lead to 66-31. The Mavs narrowed the Highlanders’ advantage in the fourth quarter, but it was not enough. They fell to 0-2 in district play. Scott’s Trey Morrow led all scorers with 33 points.
“Morrow is an elite player,” Wallace said. “He’s 6-foot-4 and he’s basically a guard and he’s more athletic than people realize. He reminds me a lot of [former Mav] Spencer Chandler and he’s probably better ... and that’s a pretty good basketball player for our area.”
Connor Martin and Ryan McGhee led Anderson County with nine points each.
AC - Connor Martin (9), Ryan McGhee (9), Zeke West (6), Jacob Dooley (6), Haydon Craig (5), Carter Nelson (4), Daylen Cole (2), Trent Strickland (2), Brandon McGhee (2)
Scott - Trey Morrow (33), Luke West (14), Grey Todd (9), Dalton Prewitt (7), Scott Jeffers (5), Skye Babb (3), Brady Strunk (2)
The Mavs dropped a home game to region rival Carter on Monday night by 60-57.
The Hornets pulled ahead by four points in the first quarter but were unable to extend their lead as they carried a 34-30 score into the half.
It was not an offensive explosion, but Carter outscored Anderson County 16-11 in the third quarter to go up 50-41. That loomed large in the fourth quarter as the Mavericks outscored the Hornets 16-10 in the final eight minutes but fell just short.
Balton McNew of Carter led all scorers with 30 points.
Brandon Dake led Anderson County with 16 points.
The Mavs have a busy stretch coming up. They host district rival Halls Friday at 7:30 p.m., and tip-off play in the Anderson County Christmas Tournament Saturday at 10 a.m. against the Knoxville Ambassadors. Win or lose, the Mavericks will also have games on Monday and Tuesday. Times and opponents are to be decided.
CHS 17 17 16 10 60
AC 13 17 11 16 57
Carter - Balton McNew (30), Brody Blakenship (9), Blake Smith (7), Chandler Wilson (5), Gage Hitchison(4), Zane Brown (3), Kaleb Harper (2)
AC - Brandon Dake (16), Tate Russell (9), Bryson Vowell (7), Ryan McGhee (7), Zeke West (4), Connor Martin (4), Brandon McGhee (4), Jacob Dooley (2), Hayden Craig (2)