If the Irving College Tigers want to be the Cinderella team of the 7-8 grade Warren County elementary boys tournament, Logan Martin will need to have two more games like he had Tuesday night.
Martin scored 18 points and grabbed 23 rebounds as he led the Tigers to a 43-15 blowout victory over the Boyd Broncos in the opening round at Charlie Dalton Gym.
Martin has had big games this season, but none were bigger than Tuesday when he faced the undersized front line of the Broncos.
Using his length and leaping ability around the rim, Martin was able to outscore Boyd on his own to move the Tigers into the semifinals.
Martin was the focal point of the Tiger attack from the opening tip. Martin scored 15 points in the first half as Irving College built a 20-4 lead.
Most of Boyd’s early offense came on one shot as Philip Brock sank a 3-pointer in the first quarter.
Aiden McVey nearly doubled the Broncos scoring total with a 3-pointer to begin the second half, but Irving College countered with six points from Dustin Hale and three from Martin to lead 33-9 entering the fourth quarter.
Austin Turner scored six points for Irving College in the fourth quarter, which matched the scoring output by Boyd in the final period.
Hale finished with nine points for Irving College while Turner added eight. Robbie Selig, Chattum Jennings, Clint Grissom and Lucas Patrick scored two points apiece.
Brock and McVey led Boyd with five points each. Casey Owens and Matthew Turner tallied two points apiece while Landon Scott added one.
By the time the final horn sounded Tuesday, Irving College was already turning its attention to the Eastside Bulldogs.
The Tigers and Bulldogs will meet tonight in the semifinals of the postseason elementary boys tournament. The two teams met in the finals of the preseason Morrison Ruritan tournament, a game Eastside won by two. The Bulldogs swept the regular-season series as well.
Tonight’s tip-off is set for 8:15 p.m.