Monkey off Madison’s back

Mohawks hold off Rams to earn their first sectional championship since the 1972-73 season.

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By Rick Cassano, Staff Writer 2:06 AM Saturday, March 6, 2010

DAYTON — Madison High School’s sectional heartbreak came to an end Friday night, March 5.

Mohawks coach Jeff Smith exuded relief and joy after his boys basketball team earned the program’s first sectional championship since the 1972-73 season.

It wasn’t pretty, but top-seeded Madison pushed its record to 23-0 and remained alive in the Division III postseason with a 52-47 victory over Badin at the University of Dayton Arena.

“We’ve been so close through the years,” Smith said. “This means so much to me, our school and our community. We wanted to win this for (the Southwestern Buckeye League) because we think it deserves more respect. But mostly this is about Madison and just ending that drought.”

Junior point guard Josh Foster paced the Mohawks with 19 points, six assists, three steals and three rebounds, but he got plenty of support.

Matt Houser had eight points and nine boards, Tyler Dietz marked eight points and five caroms, foul-plagued Mark Maloney tallied all seven of his points in the last three minutes, and Justin Brunswick added six points and five rebounds.

Madison will return to UD Arena on Thursday and meet either Shroder Paideia or Madeira in a district title game. The time will be announced Sunday.

“It’s a very big statement for Madison,” Foster said. “We knew we had to get serious in warmups, and you could tell everybody was focused. And we started off real nice.”

Indeed, the Mohawks led 14-2 in the first six-plus minutes and 31-15 early in the third stanza before the Rams (12-11) rallied.

Madison hindered its own cause by committing 22 turnovers, twice as many as Badin, and making only 4-of-13 foul shots in the fourth quarter.

“I was thinking, ‘I’ve seen this movie before in the sectional,’ ” Smith said. “We tried to give it away, but we hung in there. With the turnovers, we kept trying to make spectacular plays instead of just coming down and setting things up.”

It was 46-42 in the final minute when the Mohawks turned consecutive BHS turnovers into a pair of Maloney layups. The Rams could get no closer than four from there.

Scott Purcell had 14 points, nine assists, seven rebounds and five steals in his final game for Badin, which shot just 32.7 percent from the floor. Madison’s shooting percentage was 54.3.

“I thought (the 6-foot-9) Brunswick dictated their defense, and Foster just kept driving the lane,” Rams coach Nick Argentati said. “They were sitting in their zone and laying off everybody but Scott. They were just daring everybody else to shoot.”

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RamFan, posting at 4:03 am? By your post it must have been a late night of drinking because you completely missed my point. Playing in the GCL got Fenwick and Badin NOWHERE! The only place it got them was out of the tourney, beaten by two SWBL schools. "Moeller, LaSalle, CJ, Alter, Fenwick... anyone?" Well I already posted that Badin lost to Moeller and LaSalle, they got killed by CJ, they beat Alter by 1, and lost to Fenwick. Beat somebody before you start bragging!!! You beat nobody!!!!

SWBL Rocks!
10:46 AM, 3/7/2010

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Maybe Madison should schedule a GCL Team in the regular season. Moeller, LaSalle, CJ, Alter, Fenwick... anyone? I know for a fact Badin tried to schedule Madison for the next 2 years but Madison wanted to no part. Anyway, Badin has 5 sectional titles in the last 11 years. Madison has 2 in the last 37 years.

And the GCL Central had 3 teams playing in the sectional finals. 2 in D-II, 1 in D-III.

Again maybe Madison should schedule GCL teams???

RamFan
4:03 AM, 3/7/2010

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"The Rams always point to the postseason after banging heads with bigger, stronger teams like Moeller and La Salle during the regular season. The thought of facing an undefeated D-III squad doesn’t make them squirm."

Badin-42 Moeller-65
Badin-52 Elder-56
Badin-39 St. X-52
Badin-44 LaSalle-64

It would be something if Badin would have beat one of these GCL South teams, but they got beat by double digits by every team with the exception of Elder, who finished last in the GCL South.

SWBL Rocks!
8:57 PM, 3/6/2010

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Wow, so I guess these GCL lovers can shut up now and stop bashing on the SWBL. Last week it was SWBL Oakwood beating your GCL North co-champs Fenwick, and this yesterday it was your 2nd place GCL Central Badin(5-9) losing to the SWBL Madison Mohawks. I get so tired of hearing, "well the GCL is so tough and gets us prepared for the tournament", blah blah blah". The GCL Central sucked, lets face it. The only tough GCL is the GCL South, and that's where the big boys play.

SWBL Rocks!
8:44 PM, 3/6/2010

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Go Madison Mowhawks ..... The State Div III Championship and the Schott Venue( 19 ,042 cap ) in Columbus will be rockin' on Ohio State Campus !

Clint
5:37 PM, 3/6/2010

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