Dedicated Duo Jake Martyn And David Smith Give It Their All Despite Losses

Jake Martyn will never forget the first time he saw David Smith.

Smith was the tall, uncoordinated kid who showed up for North Central’s summer basketball camp after Martyn’s freshman year.

“I was like, `Who’s this guy?”’ recalled Martyn, now a senior forward for the Indians. “He didn’t have the greatest coordination, but I saw his size and knew we needed him in the program.”

No one knew the 6-foot-4 Smith. He was a home-school student.

He joined the NC basketball program as a sophomore but didn’t start taking classes at NC until a year later when he was a junior.

Smith is well known now. He has developed into one of the top bigmen in the Greater Spokane League.

“It shows something about his work ethic that he never played organized basketball and turned into one of the best players in the GSL in three years,” Martyn said.

Smith credits Martyn in that progress.

He said he learned a lot about hard work from Martyn. It hasn’t always been easy for these two during their basketball careers. Losing has been the norm rather than the exception at NC in recent seasons.

The Indians missed the playoffs again this season but won twice as many games as they did last year.

Martyn and Smith have taken their roles as captains seriously and have remained dedicated to a program they believe is headed in the right direction.

“They’ve been awesome,” said NC coach Jay Webber. “These two have been great kids to work with. Their attitudes are A-plus and they’re always doing their best to improve situations no matter what the situation is.”

Martyn’s freshman team tied for the league title, so he had high hopes for his senior season. The Indians, who finish their season against Rogers at 5:30 p.m. today in the Spokane Arena, have been competitive with some of the league’s top teams.

“We thought we would be better than this,” said Martyn, a third-year starter. “We can hang with any team but we fall apart in the fourth quarter.”

Yet Martyn didn’t fall apart in the final period in his team’s 77-61 Groovy Shoes loss to Shadle Park. He scored 11 of his game-high 21 points in the fourth quarter on 5-o-f6 shooting, but NC gave up 27 points.

Losing motivates these two. NC only won three games during the ‘98-‘99 season.

Martyn and Smith thought about it all summer as they worked hard to get better. They lifted weights together.

“Last year was just really bad,” Martyn, 18, said. “I was always on winning teams until then. It was a shock.”

“When you love the game, I know Jake does and I do, that drives you, too,” said Smith, 17.

Martyn and Smith say when one of them isn’t playing well, the other steps up. That was the case in the Groovy Shoes, Smith said.

They couldn’t be better examples for the younger players in the program, Webber said. Both are good students and citizens, the coach said.

“With us playing our hearts out and seeing the attitudes that we have, I know that has an effect on them,” Smith said.

Martyn said he plans to attend Eastern Washington University to study education or business but will consider trying to play for the Community Colleges of Spokane.

Smith is going to take a year off for a mission trip overseas; he’s hoping for England.

Both players say they will have no regrets about this season because they played hard, and with heart.

“Coach says you don’t want to leave saying `What if I had done this?”’ Smith said. “In our last three games we’re giving it everything so we have no regrets.”