Arlington Martin applies pressure, wears down Colleyville Heritage late

By Matthew Martinez

Special to the Star-Telegram

ARLINGTON -- Arlington Martin coach Jeff Plemons wanted more of the same from his team to open the second half Tuesday, and the Warriors' pressure defense did that, wearing down Colleyville Heritage in the fourth quarter for a 54-42 nondistrict victory.

"We set the tone well defensively and made it hard for Heritage to do what they wanted on offense," Plemons said. "Our point of emphasis was to maintain that pressure all the way through the game, and I think down the stretch it did wear on [Heritage] a bit."

It was that pressure defense that spurred Martin (11-2) to an 18-5 fourth-quarter run that broke the game open. After entering the fourth quarter with a slim 36-32 lead, Martin used a backdoor alley-oop from Shawn Hammler to a Nick Babb to spark the run.

Babb led all scorers with 17 points, but he contributed in all phases with six rebounds and five steals as well. Six of his points came on buzzer-beating 3-pointers to end the first and second quarters.

"He does so many things well," Plemons said. "It's nice when you've got a guard that's going to get you six to nine rebounds a game."

Point guard Colten Gober led Heritage with 16 points, but the Panthers (7-5) couldn't put together a run to get back into contention late.

"When we needed a stop down the stretch, we didn't get it," Heritage coach Steven Hamrick said. "And when we really needed that crucial bucket, it just seemed like it wasn't there for us."

Martin post Patrick Burke clogged the lane and chipped in with 14 points and seven rebounds, and Andrew Dotson contributed 12 points, going 3 for 6 from 3-point range.

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