Madison edges Monroe in OT

Adleta sinks game-winning shot with seconds to spare.

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1:25 AM Wednesday, February 1, 2012

By John Bombatch

Staff Writer

MADISON TWP. — The Monroe High School boys basketball team needed “just one more stop” in order to win Tuesday’s Southwestern Buckeye League crossover battle with the host Madison Mohawks.

The Hornets didn’t get it.

Instead, Joe Adleta got open just long enough to drain a jump shot from the right side with less than three seconds left to give Madison a 51-50 overtime win.

“We had two players giving screens. Jeff Clemons was screening to the basket and I was giving the other screen. Wyatt (Mills) had two passing options, and it just worked out that he gave it to me,” Adleta said of the game-winning play. “I knew the defender was going to go for the pump fake, so I faked and took the shot. I put more arc on it, and I really thought it was going to fall short.”

No worries. Swish.

Monroe had a last-ditch scoring effort at the other end, but Cameron Coleman’s shot from the right wing fell short of the rim as the buzzer sounded.

“I think Monroe could’ve wilted, but they hit what they thought was going to be the game-winning shot (Chris Sloneker’s putback score from the right side with 14.8 seconds left to give Monroe a 50-49 lead), and we came down, fortunately got the ball out of bounds, and then Adleta made that shot,” said Madison coach Jeff Smith.

“I thought our kids played very hard and very tough. We didn’t have anybody Sloneker’s size, and we couldn’t match up with him.”

Sloneker finished with 17 points to lead the Hornets (4-13). Only Adleta scored more, with 18. Smith said Madison (7-8) has a talented taller defender, but 6-foot-4 Kyle Shouse is still recovering from arthroscopic knee surgery and was used very sparingly as a result.

Coleman also scored in double figures for Monroe, with 14 points. Hornets coach Casey Popplewell blamed himself for the Hornets’ loss.

“We were playing man, and had a foul to give,” he said. “I told them during the timeout (with 32.9 seconds left to play) that if they put the ball on the floor, we were going to foul them.

“But (Adleta) never put the ball to the ground, so we didn’t foul. That’s on me.

“That was a super effort from our kids and I’m really proud of them. They played hard.”

Monroe plays Friday at Oakwood, while Madison will be at Preble Shawnee.

Contact this reporter  at (513) 705-2851 or jbombatch@coxohio.com.

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