Madison transitioning into a new era

The 2017-18 basketball season at Madison was going to be about transition. On all fronts.

The Blue Streaks lost their entire starting lineup and nearly all of their production from last season’s 20-win team.

Seniors Corbin Anthony, Dhel Duncan-Busby, Zach Guyer, Isaiah McClure and Josh Ferry all graduated. On the sidelines, coach Pat Moran also departed to join his brother, Pete, at John Carroll after more than a decade at Madison’s helm.

He was replaced by assistant Nick Gustin, who had previous head coaching experience at Chardon. As Gustin has sought new contributors to the Blue Streaks’ present and future, he and his staff focused on maintaining positivity through growing pains.

“We knew mistakes and scoring droughts were going to happen,” Gustin said. “It’s just, how were we going to react to those things, to those situations? Can we keep improving when those situations happen over and over again?”

After a win over Riverside Feb. 13, Madison is 6-11 with a 3-10 record in Western Reserve Conference play.

During the Blue Streaks’ 17 games, Gustin has seen concrete examples of progress.

Madison dropped its first game to North on Dec. 15 after the Blue Streaks led by 12 points. When the teams rematched Feb. 2, Madison secured its late lead and won, 75-68.

The new-look Blue Streaks are led by sophomores Chris Blauman and J.D. Galovic. Gustin has noticed their effort to capitalize on the available playing time.

Blauman leads Madison with 15.8 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. He helped the Blue Streaks win their first league game against the Rangers with a 34-point performance.

Galovic ranks among the area’s leaders with 3.7 assists per game.

“All that does is allow them to gain that experience going forward,” Gustin said. “Each game, you’ve seen, really, all our guys improve, but those two have kind of been a nice step forward, getting that experience.”

As Gustin returned to a head coaching job, he’s also relied on patience while he develops a new core. The Blue Streaks’ performance in games and practices serves their present, but their future, too. “We knew there was going to be growing pains and mistakes, scoring droughts,” Gustin said. “If I can stay patient through it, our kids can see what we’re trying to do is improve every day and every game.”