PIKEVILLE – The Appalachian Wireless Arena was electric Saturday night and Martin County’s sea of red fans took the roof off when the Cardinals defeated Pikeville, 62-59, in overtime in the boys’ 15th Region Tournament semifinal.
The Cardinals, now 21-12, advance to Monday night’s championship game set for 7 p.m. The Panthers season ends at 17-12.
Martin County landed all five starters in double figures, led by Brady Dingess who tallied 16. Braxton Maynard followed with 15 and Jordan Dalton scored 11. Trey James and Ethan Smith-Mills tossed in 10 apiece.
Pikeville’s Rylee Samons finished with a game-high 26 points and Connor Byers added 10. Grayson Harris chipped in nine.
At Pikeville
(15th Region Tournament)
SCORE BY QUARTERS:
MC (21-12)…11 4 13 22 (12) – 62
PK (17-12)…..5 13 7 25 ( 9) – 59
Scoring:
Martin County (62) – Brady Dingess 2 12-13 16; Ethan Smith-Mills 5 0-1 10; Jordan Dalton 1(1) 6-6 11; Braxton Maynard 1(3) 4-4 15; and Trey James 3 4-8 10. Totals: 12(4) 26-32 62.
Pikeville (59) – Seth Pugh 2(1) 0-0 7; Grayson Harris 1(2) 1-1 9; Rylee Samons 8(1) 7-9 26; Connor Byers 3(2) 0-0 12; Nick Robinson 1 1-2 3; John Flanery 1 0-0 2; and Peyton Boyd-Blair 0 0-1 0. Totals: 16(6) 9-13 59.