MARTINSVILLE — Columbus East and Martinsville came in on hot streaks Saturday night, with the Olympians having won four in a row and the Artesians winning seven of eight.
Martinsville slowly pulled away in the fourth quarter and ended East’s winning streak with a 63-46 win on the Artesians’ senior night.
“From the get-go we didn’t have a lot of energy,” East coach Brent Chitty said. “We didn’t shoot the ball real good. It was a physical game, and you have to know how it will be played and adjust to it. It just wasn’t a very good effort from us tonight.”
Both teams got off to a fast start in the first quarter, with Martinsville opening a 10-5 lead. But Max Nolting hit a 3-pointer and Matt Frost hit a jumper in the lane to tie the score at 10-10.
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Later, Drew Hasson gave the Olympians (12-9) their first lead of the game at 14-13 with back-to-back baskets. The Artesians (14-7) outscored East 5-2 to close out the first quarter and led 18-16.
Martinsville scored the first four points of the second quarter to lead 22-16, but Thomas Myers drained a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 22-19. The Artesians kept the lead the rest of the quarter and led 26-23 at the break.
Offensively, both teams cooled off in the second quarter, which Martinsville won 8-7. East committed eight turnovers in the first half, and the Artesians had four.
Drew Johnson got the Olympians within 28-25 on a jump shot, but Martinsville went on a 4-0 run to push the lead to seven. East couldn’t get anything to go right in the quarter, scoring only three points and trailing by double digits for the first time in the game at 37-26.
“Tonight, we didn’t have the energy, and I don’t know if we got off the bus,” Chitty said. “Hopefully, we will learn.”
Frost hit two free throws in the fourth quarter, but the Artesians still led 43-28. Martinsville kept the lead because of its 3-point shooting and free throws and outscored the Olympians 26-20 in the fourth quarter.
Hasson led East with 14 points, and Frost added 10.
The Olympians will close the regular season Wednesday at Class 4A No. 4 Floyd Central.
“We will have to play absolute incredible in that game and then get ready for the sectional,” Chitty said.
