The Wolverines held a double-digit lead in the first half, but could not secure the victory as Bethel used hot shooting to come out on top at the Muskogee Civic Center.
The Wildcats improved to 15-12 and moved into Friday's consolation semifinals against Eufaula. Vian saw its three-game win streak snapped and ended its season with a record of 19-8 while making its first appearance at the area tournament since 1994.
Martin, a 6-foot-2 junior, scored a game-high 28 points for Bethel, mostly on post moves around the basket. Johnson, a 6-2 sophomore, got the majority of his 18 points from the charity stripe while sinking 13-of-15 free throws in the fourth quarter.
The two teams combined to shoot 71 free throws in the contest, but it was Bethel that took advantage. The Wildcats made 28-of-38 while Vian was just 15-of-33 from the line.
The Wolverines got off to a strong start on Thursday and used a 9-0 run to build a 10-point lead in the first quarter. Timmy Hart came off the bench to score from inside the lane and from beyond the three-point arc. Londell Taylor netted the other four points during the run to make it 20-10 with 1:39 left in the period.
Vian took its biggest lead of the night-13 points- early in the second period when Ryan Taylor drilled his second trey of the game to hand the Wolverines a 27-14 advantage.
However, Bethel sank four three-pointers over the next few minutes to get back to within 38-35 by halftime.
Vfastv Locust scored 11 of his team-high 21 points for Vian in the second half and his back-to-back baskets put the Wolverines up by nine with about six minutes left in the third quarter.
Bethel rallied for a 56-54 lead by the start of the fourth period and the lead changed hands several times before the Wildcats took it for good.
Vian had chances to come back, but missed 10 free throws in the final quarter and lost standout Londell Taylor to his fifth foul with 3:49 to go. The Wolverines were within six at that point and stayed within six until Bethel closed the game with a 7-0 spurt in the final 52 seconds.
Taylor finished with 19 points and nine rebounds for the Wolverines. Hart scored 10 points, Seth Sloan eight, Ryan Taylor six, Phillip Wright four, E.J. Drew two, Garrett Ford two and Demarqua Pratt one.
Bethel had four players reach double figures as David Raney and Trey Sears both scored 10 to join Martin and Johnson in double digits. The Wildcats shot 53 percent from the floor while making 26-of-49 attempts.
Vian saw a strong postseason run come to an end with the loss. The Wolverines lost their district playoff game to powerful Sequoyah, but reeled off three-straight wins last week over Hartshorne, Atoka and Savanna to qualify for the area tournament.
In the other consolation game on Thursday, Eufaula defeated Keys 53-32 to set up a Friday match-up with Bethel.
The winner of that game will play the loser of Sequoyah and Spiro on Saturday night for the consolation title and a berth to the state tournament.
