Madison staves off Chase County
Ken Easthouse
Saturday, January 6, 2007
COTTONWOOD FALLS — The Madison boys team overcame an upstart Chase County team 46-42 Friday night.
Chase County led 22-20 at the half, riding senior Trevor Johnson’s three 3-pointers and solid defensive play.
“If he gets it going, anything across half-court is in his range,” Chase County head coach Landon Hinkson said. “It’s just a matter of being able to get him the ball and getting him the room to shoot.”
However, Madison was out to prove it was the top Bulldog.
Madison’s Jordan Stout led an 8-point run -- the largest in the game — late in the fourth quarter to put Madison up 42-35 and helped to keep the distance through the final minutes.
“The first half, (Stout) pretty much stayed on the perimeter,” Hinkson said. “(In the second half) he got a couple of easy buckets down low.”
Stout led all scorers with 22 points.
Stout said the team was expecting a challenge from Chase County but didn’t expect how it happened.
“We knew they were a good team,” Stout said. “At halftime, we realized they were a lot better than we thought.”
Hinkson said his team had been working hard over the winter break to correct errors found in games before vacation.
“I thought we played much better, considering how we looked the last few games before the break,” Hinkson said. “But it’s still a loss, no matter by how many points.”
Madison head coach Mike Pitko credited his team’s toughness through the game, as the 8-1 Madison squad found itself down through much of the game.
“I think they just decided they weren’t going to lose,” Pitko said.
It was the first game for both squads since returning from winter break, and Pitko said he saw his team had lost a step.
“I gave them a lot of time off, and I think our conditioning was off tonight,” Pitko said.
Madison girls 52,
Chase County 14
The Madison Lady Bulldogs steamrolled over Chase County 52-14 Friday night in Cottonwood Falls.
Madison scored more points in the first quarter (19) than Chase County did the entire game (14).
“I was very impressed with how we came out,” Madison head coach Megan McGuire said.
Madison had not been as quick out of the gate so far this season, and McGuire challenged her team to score more points early.
“I told the girls, ‘I think you’re going to come out rough, so prove me wrong,’” McGuire said. “They like to prove me wrong.”
Chase County head coach Toby Baker said his team needed to score more than seven points a half — the team’s second-half total — in order to be more competitive.
“We can’t score, and I don’t know what to do to make it so we can score,” Baker said. “Until we start scoring, we’re going to struggle.”
One of Chase County’s few bright spots came in rebounding. Despite not being as tall or physical in the post position, Chase County managed to outrebound Madison.
“I thought we did a good job of having people where we needed to be,” Baker said. “Maybe we paid more attention to it than they did.”
McGuire credited her two freshman starters, Morgan Stout and Shelby Buster, with making key contributions throughout the game.
“Defensively, I’d be a little scared to go in (the post with Buster),” McGuire said. She later added, “Morgan Stout sees the court better than a senior.”
Stout and Buster led the team with 19 and 17 points, respectively.