Martinsville boys fall victim to hot shooting night by Perry Meridian in Mid-State matchup

INDIANAPOLIS — As the second quarter of play started to draw to a close between Martinsville and Perry Meridian, the two teams gave every indication that it was going to be a competitive matchup that could potentially go down to the wire.

The Falcons led 15-13 as both teams, playing solid defense, struggled to put the ball in the hoop, scoring at a combined 39% clip.

But with one play everything changed.

Falcons’ guard Izaiah Brinker, winding down the clock, nailed a 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded, providing Perry Meridian with an 18-13 halftime lead.

The shot propelled the Falcons to a 20-0 third quarter run and 50-32 win over the Artesians.

"They made a big three at the end of the half, which was really a big momentum shot for them, I don’t think we got out on a switch like we needed to," Martinsville coach Kip Staggs said. "We got to shoot the ball better, and we need to do a better job on the perimeter guarding the three, and those are just two things we didn’t do tonight."

Perry Meridian catches fire amidst Martinsville struggles

Perry Meridian's success from the three-point line was almost absurd, as the Falcons shot a scorching hot 64.3% (54.2% total) from distance while going 6-for-7 in the second half.

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Wes Vanek had a lot to do with that, as he single-handedly went 7-for-8 from three, which accounted for all of his shots, scoring 21 points. The Artesians had a tough time slowing down Patrick Schott as well, who was a perfect 3-for-3 on the night, and 7-for-8 from the line, scoring 14 points.

Martinsville's offense, on the other hand, was silent. It's not often a team, especially of the Artesian's caliber, doesn't score a single point in a quarter. But despite getting good looks, nothing they threw up found its way into the basket.

"It's hard to win when you don't score in the third quarter," Staggs said. "We shot 31% from the floor, and their number 24 (Vanek) goes 7-of-8 from three and we just couldn't seem to find him. He had wide open looks, and he made big shots. It gave them a little spurt there in the third quarter and we could never recover."

Getting a team to stay in it when nothing is falling is not easy, but with the game coming to an end, despite it being too late, Martinsville started to gain a little more traction as they found the hoop.

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"When you're in that position, you play for tomorrow and you do some things to get ready for the next game or the next week," Staggs said. "We're gonna finish the game. We're gonna keep doing what we need to do and improve on some things, and that was our focus there in the fourth quarter."

"We put ourselves in that position, we've got to learn how to get ourselves out of it, gotta learn to fight through it," he said. "A little adversity, and every team is going to go through it."

Isaiah Marlett serves as a bright spot

With Brody Staggs out of the lineup for the night, senior Isaiah Marlett had to step up in his position, and he did not disappoint, serving as one of the team's bright spots.

Before the game, Marlett was in somewhat of a shooters slump. But tonight the guard tied for the team-high with Landon Myers for 11 points. The confidence was evident as he fired shots from well beyond the three-point line, and he connected on 50% of them, shooting 3-of-6 from deep.

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Despite the loss, that type of performance served as a confidence booster for a player that, before the season, was expected to be a solid contributor for the squad.

"It was good for him to see the ball go in the basket," Staggs said. "He's been struggling a bit from the floor and so I hope that helps his confidence a little bit and I hope that carries over."

Following Marlett and Myers was Skyler Pruett with five points, Will Bastin with four and Luke Cheatham with one.

Looking ahead

Martinsville's loss makes them an even 7-7 on the year and 1-3 in Mid-State play. There's a quick turnaround as they visit Bloomington to face Bloomington South (10-5) Saturday.

Contact reporter Devin Voss at dvoss@gannett.com, or follow him on Twitter at @DevinVoss23

This article originally appeared on The Reporter Times: Martinsville boys fall victim to hot shooting night by Perry Meridian