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How Graham Martinson emerged as Yorkville’s third star alongside Braydon Porter and Joey Jakstys · Kendall County News - Shaw Local

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  Speaker 1: How Graham Martinsen emerged as Yorkville's third star alongside Braden
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  Speaker 1: Porter and Joey Jackson's Written by Joshua Welja, This article
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  Speaker 1: is being read by an automated voice brought to you
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  Speaker 1: by Everlett. What a difference a year makes for Graham Martinsen.
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  Speaker 1: Martinsen did not start last summer playing with Yorkville's varsity
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  Speaker 1: boys basketball team. A rising sophomore at the time, Necessity
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  Speaker 1: forced Martinsen to be pulled up from JV with three
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  Speaker 1: starters gone with baseball commitments. All of a sudden, we
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  Speaker 1: see him play and we say we got to keep him,
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  Speaker 1: Yorkville coach John Holakowsky said, that's how he got pulled up.
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  Speaker 1: The sweet shooting six foot three Martinsen might be unheralded
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  Speaker 1: next to fellow juniors Braden Porter and Joey Jaxty's, but
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  Speaker 1: he became a key piece of a Yorkville team that
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  Speaker 1: last year won the program's regional title in twenty one years.
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  Speaker 1: With a junior heavy group this coming season, some seven
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  Speaker 1: to eight on Yorkville's roster, it could be the start
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  Speaker 1: of big things for the Foxes. That playoff run. It
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  Speaker 1: motivated me Martinson said, it showed me how much we
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  Speaker 1: could do. Seeing what we could do, we have so
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  Speaker 1: much more motivation. If we keep putting in the work,
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  Speaker 1: we can do a lot of great things. The Foxes
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  Speaker 1: just completed their summer schedule last weekend at the Ridgewood Shootout.
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  Speaker 1: They also participated in shootouts at Riverside, Brookfield, and Romoville,
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  Speaker 1: and in the Downers Grove Summer League. At Romoville in
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  Speaker 1: front of several Division three college coaches, Martinson scored twenty
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  Speaker 1: three points and hit five three pointers in one game.
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  Speaker 1: That's nothing new to Holakovsky. As a sophomore, he averaged
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  Speaker 1: eight points per game, fourth on the Foxes, and shot
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  Speaker 1: forty percent from the three point line. He scored a
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  Speaker 1: career high twenty seven points with four to three pointers
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  Speaker 1: in a win over Saint Charles North at the Ernie
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  Speaker 1: Cavisto Shootout. He's been our best US team defender. He's
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  Speaker 1: good off the ball, and you have to respect him
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  Speaker 1: from the perimeter, Holakowsky said. If you don't, he's going
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  Speaker 1: to hit a shot. Martinsen did not shoot the ball
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  Speaker 1: much in middle school and was a post player as
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  Speaker 1: a freshman, as was his twin brother Hunter. He kept
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  Speaker 1: on working on his shot last spring with the help
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  Speaker 1: of Newark coach Kyle Anderson, who works as a trainer
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  Speaker 1: with individuals. His improved shooting caught the eye of Yorkville's coaches.
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  Speaker 1: When Martinsen played JV as I got older, I got
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  Speaker 1: more opportunities to shoot the ball, Martinsen said. Martinsen last
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  Speaker 1: season relished the opportunity to play alongside classmates Porter and Jaxty's,
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  Speaker 1: who played varsity as freshmen, didn't get to play with
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  Speaker 1: them freshman year. Martinsen said. They drive on teams, people
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  Speaker 1: collapse on them. I'm wide open. I got more opportunities
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  Speaker 1: to score and shoot. It brought out the best in me.
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  Speaker 1: Playing with better players made me better. Martinson has worked
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  Speaker 1: on his ball handling this offseason to become a set
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  Speaker 1: secondary ball handler and playmaker on Yorkville next to Porter
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  Speaker 1: and Jaxty's. It will be interesting to see how he develops.
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  Speaker 1: Holakovsky said he is poised to be really good the
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  Speaker 1: next two years. Everybody talks about Braden and Joey and
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  Speaker 1: Graham doesn't get as much attention. Porter, Yorkville's leading scorer
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  Speaker 1: at thirteen point six points per game, as a sophomore,
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  Speaker 1: and Jaxtice, who averaged eleven point four and shot forty
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  Speaker 1: four percent from three point range, have both shown improvement
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  Speaker 1: in Holakovsky's estimation, both of them had their moments, both
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  Speaker 1: have got a lot better. Holakovsky said, Braiden is shooting
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  Speaker 1: better than last year. Joey is doing a little bit
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  Speaker 1: of everything, playing the post, playing the perimeter, shooting threes,
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  Speaker 1: running some offense through him, which is unique. Both Porter
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  Speaker 1: and Jaxtice have received some Division I interest, although neither
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  Speaker 1: have received any scholarship offers yet. This time, right now
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  Speaker 1: is where it started heating up for Jason Jackxte's now
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  Speaker 1: at Illinois, Lakovsky said, recruiting, even from two, three, four
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  Speaker 1: years ago, is in a lot different place. The Foxes
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  Speaker 1: are still figuring out who their guards will be after
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  Speaker 1: graduating three senior guards, twins Liam Bosek and Carter Bosek,
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  Speaker 1: both rising juniors, have been playing alongside Porter, Jaxice, and
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  Speaker 1: Martinsen in lineups. R J. Roberson, another rising junior, was
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  Speaker 1: the leading scorer on the sophomore team last year, but
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  Speaker 1: was injured right before summer camp and didn't play at
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  Speaker 1: all in June. Hoping he gets cleared, Kolakovsky said he
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  Speaker 1: can make a big impact. The Foxes hope to avoid
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  Speaker 1: the roller coaster ups and downs of last season. Yorkville
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  Speaker 1: started five to two, but endured a five game losing
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  Speaker 1: streak in December amid a rash of injuries and illness,
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  Speaker 1: before recovering in January. Holakovsky said they have a pretty
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  Speaker 1: aggressive early schedule, including a move from the Sycamore Tournament
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  Speaker 1: to Saint Charles East at Thanksgiving. We've talked about what
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  Speaker 1: we can do to get better about not getting punk
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  Speaker 1: by teams. Holakovsky said this group is different.