Blue Streaks turn tide in fourth quarter

A nip-and-tuck, fastpaced, emotional contest took a big turn in the fourth quarter in a nonconference matchup Feb.9 at Wickliffe, and it was visiting Madison that was the beneficiary of the change in momentum.

The Blue Streaks, coming off a loss at South on Feb.8, trailed, 54-53, entering the fourth quarter. Fueled by turnovers, a 12-2 run, capped by senior Ron Hartman’s second of three triples, put Madison in control at 65-56.

After Chase Fortkamp scored for Wickliffe, Chris Blauman scored inside for Madison, then stole a Wickliffe pass. Blauman passed quickly out to the wing to Hartman who buried his third 3-pointer to give the Blue Streaks a 7058 lead.

Madison, which improved to 10-8 on the season, then took advantage of a technical foul called on the Blue Devils, their second of the game. Senior Marcus Horton converted both free throws, and the Blue Streaks rode the momentum the rest of the way, going on to put up 31 points in the fourth quarter of a 84-66 victory.

Hartman led all scorers with 25 points. Horton added 18, Blauman contributed 16, and junior Ryan Bowers chipped in 10.

“Just keep on playing defense,” Hartman said regarding the key to the win. “(Our coaches) told us to play as hard as we could, just keep flying around and playing good defense. Things started going our way and shots started falling for us.”

Things got chippy at times between the two teams, who combined to commit 37 fouls. Madison connected on 21 of 31 from the line, while Wickliffe converted 11 of 16. Madison coach Nick Gustin was happy with the way his team bounced back from a loss the previous night, and its ability to battle back and take control.

“The second half was good for us,” Gustin said. “They actually took the lead back, and we were able to regain our composure, attack the basket first, and kind of go inside out the way we do. We’re not the biggest team, but that allowed to us build momentum and get some confidence and that really fortunate to come out on top. You gotta give (Wickliffe) credit, they battled all the way through.”

Wickliffe (13-6), which plays a frenetic, energetic, up-tempo style, got the start it wanted, bolting out to a 24-14 first quarter lead. Junior Anthony Olsen, who led the Blue Devils with 24 points, scored 10 in the opening frame. Madison stormed back in the second quarter, and tied the game at 28-28 on a Bowers bucket with 4:38 left until halftime. Wickliffe junior Chase Fortkamp made an athletic play right before the halftime buzzer, converting a layup while his momentum was carrying him the other way to tie the game at 3535 at the break.

The Blue Devils fell behind, 47-42, after a Hartman basket in the third quarter, but regained the lead after an 8-0 run in which Justin Metsker scored on a putback after a steal, then Fortkamp scored after another turnover. A 6-0 run by Madison put the Blue Streaks back in command, but baskets by Fortkamp and Josh Perpar allowed Wickliffe to go ahead once again going into the fourth.