STUART – All season long, the Martin County Tigers boys basketball team has had one goal in mind.
They wanted nothing more than to reach Lakeland and play for the Class 6A title game.
Martin County (25-4) has earned the FHSAA’s No. 1 overall seed in the 6A State Final Four Series. It will play in the state semifinals against No. 4 overall seed Wharton (28-2) on Thursday, March 3 at 6 p.m.
All State Final Four games in all seven classifications will be played at RP Funding Center in Lakeland.
“Our team has went through lots of up and downs throughout this season,” Martin County senior forward and team captain Ryan Davis said. “We lost games we should have won and went through many injuries, but no matter what we stayed together and played as a team. We have been extremely focused this year because of the way we went out last year in the regional finals, losing by two points. We used that as motivation to get to Lakeland this year.”
Martin County’s run to the State Final Four was highlighted by several key wins, three of which happened over this past month.
We can go with the 6A-Region 3 title game against top-seeded Pembroke Pines Charter (25-4 final record).
Outside of Martin County’s circle, not many were sure of how the road game on Feb. 25 would turn out for the second-seeded team. With a sheer level of drive, focus, and tenacity, the Tigers powered through their 52-47 win over the Jaguars, sending them to the State Final Four.
“We came out aggressive knowing they were a very good team,” said Martin County senior point guard Jayden Pressey, who scored 15 points and added two steals in last Friday night’s landmark win. “We controlled the ball and stayed solid on defense. The buckets did the rest.”
We can also point to Martin County’s two wins in three games over Dwyer.
As the second-seeded team in District 13-6A, Martin County fought off a furious fourth-quarter rally by Dwyer to stun the top-seeded team in a 49-48 road win to earn the district title.
And then just two games later, the 6A-Region 3 second-seeded team ended the sixth-seeded team’s season for good at home.
In the regional semifinal on Feb. 22, it was a close one from start to finish. Martin County edged Dwyer (21-4 final record) for a 68-65 home win to advance further in the FHSAA 6A postseason.
“It felt great especially with all the hype surrounding the games,” said Davis, who will be playing college basketball for the next several years at Nova Southeastern University. “Dwyer is a great program and always has been. So sending them home at our home court was something special.”
With up to four days left in this magical 2021-2022 season, Martin County knows what it will need to do as a team this week in Lakeland.
“If we keep up the intensity on defense and put points on the board, we should be coming home with a ring,” Pressey said. “Defense wins championships.”
Davis wants nothing more than for his band of brothers to make the most of their program’s first State Final Four since 2013.
“It’s going to take extreme focus on the coaches’ game plan and just staying locked in,” Davis said. “To make it this far and beat the teams we beat, we did it with injuries of key players. It feels unreal, but we know the job’s not finished. We are hungry for the state title that Martin county hasn’t won since 1979.”
NOTE: The Martin County boys basketball team is led by head coach John Leon.
PHOTO CREDITS: Martin County High School Athletics and Martin County Tiger Hoops
