The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Madison earns its 20th win of season
Behind the senior class of Dhel Duncan-Busby, Corbin Anthony, Zach Guyer and Isaiah McClure, Madison appeared capable of playing maybe its best season in program history.
The Blue Streaks dominated for most of the regular season and, behind their seniors, tied the school record with their 20th win against Chardon in a sectional semifinal on March 1, 69-55.
Madison beat Chardon twice during the regular season, but the games were decided by a total of 12 points. The third matchup took on a similar shape. After the Blue Streaks took a double-digit lead early, the Hilltoppers clawed back within four late in the third quarter.
Duncan-Busby then finished a layup through contact and made the andone try. Guyer canned a 3-pointer, and DuncanBusby hung in the air to evade a defender waiting to take a charge and laid the ball in during the final seconds of the quarter to put Madison up 12 and in control headed to the fourth.
“We were feeling really good,” Duncan-Busby said. “We didn’t let (their run) get into our head, we just knew that we had to cut the head off the snake right there and just basically end them.”
Pat Moran’s Blue Streaks now have a chance to play for a program-best 21st win against the Cleveland Heights team which eliminated Madison from last year’s playoffs, due mostly to Duncan-Busby and Guyer scoring 25 of the team’s 31 second-half points.
Duncan-Busby led all scorers with 28 points, Guyer added 18 and Anthony chipped in 10. Alongside McClure, they accounted for all but five of Madison’s points at a time players in their position are expected to take ownership and assert their will on the floor.
“I’m just happy for them because they’re a great group of young men who really work hard,” Moran said. “They’re a model for everybody in this school, just when you have a class that comes together.”
Ben Sulka led Chardon with 15 points, Joe Scerbo finished with 13 and Alex Sulka added 12. Chardon coach Chad Murawski hoped to slow the Blue Streaks’ primary scoring options, but the Hilltoppers were unable to limit Duncan-Busby and Guyer.
Chardon fell behind by 10 points after the first quarter as missed shots helped activate Madison’s transition offense. The teams scored 19 points apiece in the second before the Hilltoppers cut their deficit to 44-40 with three minutes left in the third quarter on Alex Sulka’s and-one finish.
Madison’s 8-0 run staked the Blue Streaks to a 52-40 lead and Chardon was unable to cut the lead to single-digits in the fourth.
Murawski’s group left Madison disappointed after a third missed chance to defeat the Blue Streaks, but the future appears bright for the Hilltoppers. Chardon finished with a .500 record in Western Reserve Conference play and 12-10 overall after it lost four of its first six games this season, and Ben Sulka, Scerbo and Mike Laudato developed into reliable scoring options to support Alex Sulka.
The four leading scorers return to lead what should be a competitive team in the upper half of next year’s WRC, but Murawski is ready for some time off before he starts work on the 2017-18 season.
“I am proud of what our team has done this year,” Murawski said. “I’m going to appreciate what they’ve done, I’m not going to think about next year for a couple months.”