Martin, G-Men roll past Richlands
RICHLANDS, Va. – Graham High School senior Darrin Martin reached the 1,000-point mark Saturday against rival Bluefield.
Now the real fun awaits for the six-foot senior guard.
With Martin creating his way to 16 more points late Wednesday night, the Graham G-Men posted a 65-45 victory over Southwest District rival Richlands before a capacity crowd at Richlands Middle School.
The game, which was played as part of a quad, did not begin until shortly before 9 p.m. but Martin worked his smooth magic from opening tip against the Richlands zone with a package of skills.
“I can hit the outside shot when defenders sag off and I have a quick first step when I need to drive,” Martin said. “Having the ability to handle the ball also helps.”
Graham took a 33-18 halftime lead as Martin scored 12 points.
“Darrin is the total package and he can do it all on the court. If people don’t know who he is, they should know,” Graham coach Glynn Carlock Jr. said.
“Darrin is a phenomenal scorer, he’s hard to guard, he’s a team player and he works on his game tirelessly, plus he’s a fantastic student who would be a good addition to any college program.”
Martin said he’s still adding aspects to his game.
“I never believed I could reach 1,000 points, but it was sweet and it came as the result of a lot of hard work through the years,” Martin said. “The final basket came on a backdoor cut and I took a pump fake. I’ll remember that for a while, but it will playoff time and that’s what every player looks forward to.”
According to Martin, colleges such as Radford, Hampton, Marshall and VMI have expressed interest.
“Playing Division I basketball has been my goal since I started playing,” Martin said.
Carlock said the best is yet to come with Martin.
“Darrin didn’t get a lot of playing time until midway through his sophomore year, so he basically got 1,000 points in just two and half years of varsity experience,” Carlock said.
Five-foot-nine junior Nick Baker and 6-5 senior Garret Dalton added 11 points apiece for Graham. The G-Men (15-2, 6-0) will visit Lebanon tonight in a game originally set for Friday.
Richlands (12-5, 3-4) began the season with an 8-0 record before slumping.
Entering Wednesday’s showdown, Richlands had reeled off three straight wins behind the work of 6-3 junior post Race Moir. While Moir added 16 more points Wednesday, it was not enough.
“It’s been a rebuilding year, but we’ve done okay,” Richlands coach Fred Phillips said. “We had two starters out for a long time and then three starters out. Now, we’ve got two of those guys back.”
Senior Caleb Horn has been sidelined with an Achilles injury while Cade Simmons broke three bones in his hand.
“And then out point guard [Austin Lee] got hurt against Abingdon,” Phillips said. “It’s been a trying year, but also rewarding. We’ve got a bunch of young kids and we’ve been throwing them to the wolves on varsity. Graham is just a heck of a team and Martin can definitely play in college.”
Carlock said his team is battle tested for the second half of the season.
“These kind of environments tonight don’t bother us,” Carlock said. “We’ve been in big games all year, so we just needed to fight through this, hit our foul shots and go back to Bluefield with a win.”
RICHLANDS, Va. – Graham High School senior Darrin Martin reached the 1,000-point mark Saturday against rival Bluefield.
Now the real fun awaits for the six-foot senior guard.
With Martin creating his way to 16 more points late Wednesday night, the Graham G-Men posted a 65-45 victory over Southwest District rival Richlands before a capacity crowd at Richlands Middle School.
The game, which was played as part of a quad, did not begin until shortly before 9 p.m. but Martin worked his smooth magic from opening tip against the Richlands zone with a package of skills.
“I can hit the outside shot when defenders sag off and I have a quick first step when I need to drive,” Martin said. “Having the ability to handle the ball also helps.”
Graham took a 33-18 halftime lead as Martin scored 12 points.
“Darrin is the total package and he can do it all on the court. If people don’t know who he is, they should know,” Graham coach Glynn Carlock Jr. said.
“Darrin is a phenomenal scorer, he’s hard to guard, he’s a team player and he works on his game tirelessly, plus he’s a fantastic student who would be a good addition to any college program.”
Martin said he’s still adding aspects to his game.
“I never believed I could reach 1,000 points, but it was sweet and it came as the result of a lot of hard work through the years,” Martin said. “The final basket came on a backdoor cut and I took a pump fake. I’ll remember that for a while, but it will playoff time and that’s what every player looks forward to.”
According to Martin, colleges such as Radford, Hampton, Marshall and VMI have expressed interest.
“Playing Division I basketball has been my goal since I started playing,” Martin said.
Carlock said the best is yet to come with Martin.
“Darrin didn’t get a lot of playing time until midway through his sophomore year, so he basically got 1,000 points in just two and half years of varsity experience,” Carlock said.
Five-foot-nine junior Nick Baker and 6-5 senior Garret Dalton added 11 points apiece for Graham. The G-Men (15-2, 6-0) will visit Lebanon tonight in a game originally set for Friday.
Richlands (12-5, 3-4) began the season with an 8-0 record before slumping.
Entering Wednesday’s showdown, Richlands had reeled off three straight wins behind the work of 6-3 junior post Race Moir. While Moir added 16 more points Wednesday, it was not enough.
“It’s been a rebuilding year, but we’ve done okay,” Richlands coach Fred Phillips said. “We had two starters out for a long time and then three starters out. Now, we’ve got two of those guys back.”
Senior Caleb Horn has been sidelined with an Achilles injury while Cade Simmons broke three bones in his hand.
“And then out point guard [Austin Lee] got hurt against Abingdon,” Phillips said. “It’s been a trying year, but also rewarding. We’ve got a bunch of young kids and we’ve been throwing them to the wolves on varsity. Graham is just a heck of a team and Martin can definitely play in college.”
Carlock said his team is battle tested for the second half of the season.
“These kind of environments tonight don’t bother us,” Carlock said. “We’ve been in big games all year, so we just needed to fight through this, hit our foul shots and go back to Bluefield with a win.”
