Mustangs Extend Fruitvale’s Slide

FRUITVALE — The relentless defensive pressure from Martins Mill did not take long in deciding last Friday’s District 18-A battle against Fruitvale.

The Mustangs dominated from start to finish in a 53-26 victory. On Tuesday, it was a similar story in a 56-16 thrashing of North Hopkins.

Meanwhile, Fruitvale’s woes continued on the road as the Bobcats dropped a 52-44 decision at Campbell on Tuesday.

"We are playing really well defensively right now," Martins Mill Head Coach Trae Moore said as his team prepared for a showdown of district unbeatens at Yantis.

Against Fruitvale, the Mustangs got 13 points from Boot Brantley, 11 from David Fox and 10 from Dez Juan Jones. But it was the defensive effort from everyone in a maroon uniform that flustered the Bobcats and held them to just five points in the first half.

Other scorers for Martins Mill included Will Schneider with seven, Cody Kight with five, Ahrin Miller with three, and David Rock and Dalton Flowers with two each.

For Fruitvale, Ian McCann had eight points and two blocked shots. Marcus Rongel scored seven, Caleb Westbrook added five and Tyler Yates, Hunter Houser and Randy Mejia scored two apiece.

McCann finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds in the loss against Campbell. He was joined in posting a double-double by Yates with 10 points and 11 boards. Rongel led Fruitvale in rebounding with 13 and he also put in nine points. Yates accounted for seven of Fruitvale’s 21 steals in that game.

Westbrook and Carie White added four points each, Ryan McGlothlin had three and Houser added one point.

In the Mustangs’ win against North Hopkins, Fox led the way with 19 points while Flowers hit double digits with 10. Schneider finished with nine points, Jones added eight, Brantley put in five, Kight had three and Seth Stephens scored two points.

Emily Williams finished with 14 points and Meagan Weatherford tossed in 12 to lead the Martins Mill Lady Mustangs to a 48-15 win last Friday.

Joanna Daniel added nine points, followed by Kenzie Roberts with eight, Kelsey Tarrant with three and Taylor Munns with two.

Paige Davilla led Fruitvale with seven points. Tiffany Williams had three points, Katie Beall and Haley Taylor added two each and Chelsea Watson had one point.