Madison reclaims tournament crown

Mohawks cruise past Dayton Belmont in championship game.

$Madison's Jeff Clemons\uFEFF, attempts to keep the ball in play during the third quarter in the championship game of the Brian Cook Classic on Friday\uFEFF. The Mohawks routed Dayton Belmont 61-37. Contributed Photo by David A. Moodie$

David Moodie Madison's Jeff Clemons\uFEFF, attempts to keep the ball in play during the third quarter in the championship game of the Brian Cook Classic on Friday\uFEFF. The Mohawks routed Dayton Belmont 61-37. Contributed Photo by David A. Moodie

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By Eric Hickey, Contributing Writer 1:20 AM Saturday, December 31, 2011

MADISON TWP. — The trophy was only gone a year, but for the Madison High School boys basketball team, one year was one to many.

The Mohawks came out hot early and never let up, scorching the nets in a 61-37 slaughter of the Dayton Belmont Bison to claim the championship of their own Brian Cook Classic

The Mohawks led by only six at the half but outscored Belmont 17-3 in the third quarter to claim a commanding 45-25 lead in coasting to their third tourney championship in four years.

“We didn’t win it last year so this means a lot,” Madison coach Jeff Smith said. “We played well. We are grateful to win the championship again.”

Jeff Clemons had 14 points and pulled down 11 rebounds to claim the tourney MVP award. Joey Adleta added 13 points and nine boards and Brad Green chipped in 20 points, including five treys, to lead Madison.

“Give them credit, those guys hit a lot of shots,” Belmont coach Lyle Cole said. “We had one of those nights when we couldn’t shoot the ball and they hit a lot.”

The Mohawks hit 22-of-46 from the field, including 12-of-23 in the second half, and nailed nine three pointers.

Green hit three treys early to boost the Mohawks, while Adleta and Clemons were combining inside to defend Belmont’s DAndre Price, who scored 35 points Thursday night against Middletown Christian.

Price led the Bison (2-6) with 15 points and added 11 boards but hit only 6-of-19 from the field.

Clemons was all over the court, fighting inside for tough rebounds while beating the Bison down the court for baskets in the paint.

“This is great because I am not really a basketball player,” said Clemons, who also stars on the diamond as a pitcher. “I just tried to outwork them inside, then leak out and hustle and the guards did a good job finding me when they penetrated.”

Alec Berry added seven rebounds and six assists for Madison (6-2).

• Josh Hutson (27 points), Drew King (23) and Zach Henderson (22) led MCS past Oyler 84-53 in the consolation game.

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