Basketball Recap: Brayden Shepherd's Big Game Can't Quite Lead Johnson Central over Martin County

If Johnson Central was feeling good fresh off their 68-31 takedown of Magoffin County last Saturday, their most recent game may have dampened their spirits a bit. The Johnson Central Golden Eagles took a 101-89 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Martin County Cardinals on Friday. Despite running the score up even higher than they did in their prior game last Saturday (68), the Golden Eagles still had to take the loss.

Brayden Shepherd

Points

02/14/25 @ Martin County	31
02/08/25 @ Magoffin County	18
02/06/25 vs Paintsville	25
02/04/25 vs Expression Prep Academy	23
02/03/25 @ Powell County	28
+ 3 more games

Johnson Central's loss came despite a true team effort with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Brayden Shepherd, who went 11-for-23 en route to 31 points in addition to seven boards and three steals. Shepherd's evening made it eight games in a row in which he has scored at least 18 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Austin Slone, who dropped a double-double with 32 points and 13 rebounds.

Johnson Central's defeat dropped their record down to 14-8. As for Martin County, their victory bumped their record up to 17-9.

Johnson Central wasted no time getting back out on the court and has already played their next match, a 95-86 loss against Pineville on the 15th. As for Martin County, they will take on Magoffin County at 7:00 p.m. on Monday. One thing working in Martin County's favor is that they have posted at least 55 points in their last ten contests.