The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
MADISON RIDES WAVE OF EMOTION
Blue Streaks feed off rivalry to earn win
Second by second, as the remaining time ticked off the clock in Madison’s 74-65 win on Feb. 23, the Blue Streaks’ jam-packed student section barked out the countdown unison.
When the final buzzer sounded, the bleachers emptied as fans spilled onto the floor to celebrate a win that signified ...
Well, that’s where the dilemma comes in.
Did the Blue Streaks’ victory mean a conference championship banner would be hung on the wall? No. Did the win signify a postseason title? No. The win came in the regularseason finale of an eight-win season of a difficult rebuilding process following the graduation of a marvelous senior class this past spring and the ensuing departure of longtime coach Pat Moran, who moved on to coach at the college level with his brother at John Carroll University.
So if the win meant nothing, then why storm the court? Because it came against Perry. In Madison, that means everything.
“When you’ve got Madison vs. Perry, everybody knows everybody,” said Madison sophomore Chris Blauman.
“It gives you that extra motivation because whoever wins this game, you’ve got bragging rights for the entire offseason.”
For reference, check in with the Perry football team, which has won three straight against its nextdoor neighbor rival Madison and has celebrated wildly the hoisting of “The Little Brown Jug” after each win.
In a sports world where corruption is ravaging college athletics, social activism is prevalent in professional sports and high school athletes jump from school to school at a virtual whim sometimes, what happened in Madison on Feb. 23 showed what is right about athletics. Natural-born rivalries. “It’s just a nice neighborhood rivalry,” said Madison coach Nick Gustin, who played in the rivalry in the 1990s as a Blue Streak and is now coaching in it. “These kids play all sports against each other, football, soccer, whatever it is. It’s just a good, old-fashioned, slug-it-out (series) and you see who is standing at the end.”
The buzz in the gym was noticeable all night, even in the junior varsity game when Madison’s Ryan Bowers hammered home a nothing-but-net shot from somewhere near the Ashtabula County line to give the Blue Streak reserves a victory.
Come the varsity game, the fire was there — at least on one side of the gym.
“It’s a big-time game,” said Perry coach Al Iacofano. “I think Madison realized that. I don’t know if our varsity guys did, though.”
Riding that emotion, Madison shot extraordinarily well throughout, including a sizzling third quarter in which Blauman made six shots in a row to give his team a 56-52 lead heading into the fourth.
In all, Madison made eight of 11 shots in the third, and 29 of 57 (51 percent) for the game.
“Get him the ball and hope it keeps going in,” Gustin said of his directive regarding Blauman. “Keep shooting til it doesn’t go in, then shoot it some more.”
Perry got within one point, 59-58, midway through the fourth on a free throw by Nate Cubbison, but the Blue Streaks went on a 12-3 run, capped by a putback by JD Galovic, to put the game out of reach.
Ron Hartman made five of six free throws in the fourth to help put Perry away.
“We just wanted the W,” Hartman said “We don’t want them to win.” Ah, a rivalry at it best. Perry (10-12) will try to regroup for a Division II tournament game against Harvey, while Madison heads to the Division I tournament opener against Cleveland Heights.
“There was no stretch in that 32-minute game when we outworked Madison,” lamented Iacofano.
It’s the effort rivalries are made of.
And you can be rest assured whenever Madison and Perry meet, that’s what it’s going to be like.
This one went to the Blue Streaks.
“Our guys really battled in the fourth to win that game,” Gustin said. “They earned that win. Kudos to our guys.”