LaRico Martin
Lutheran North
Basketball
The 5’7″ sophomore guard enjoyed a stellar weekend in leading the Crusaders to the Missouri Class 3 state championship.
Martin scored a game-high 28 points to lead Lutheran North to a 72-63 victory over Charleston in the state finals at the Mizzou Arena in Columbia. Martin was the smallest player on the floor, but he came up with the big plays against a bigger and more athletic Charleston unit.
For the game, Martin hit seven of his 14 shots from the field, including three from 3-point range that got the Crusaders going after a slow start. He finished the game by hitting eight consecutive free throws to clinch the victory. He hit 11 of 12 from the free throw line. In between, he hit several clutch shots in the second half to ward off a late Charleston rally.
“I felt that my team needed me and they kept getting me open shots,” Martin said after the state championship game.
In the Crusaders’ 47-42 victory over Versailles in the semifinals, Martin had 11 points, five rebounds, two assists and a game-high five steals. He was a perfect six of six from the free throw line.
Martin was a starter as a freshman in 2004 on a Crusaders team that advanced to the district championship game. He missed the first several games of the 2005 season with a broken collarbone, which he suffered during football season. He returned to the lineup to average nine points a game while leading the team in 3-point shooting and free throw shooting.
