The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
Madison defeats Otselic Valley
The Madison boys basketball team came one game closer to winning its first league title since the 1997-98season, defeating Otselic Valley 8559on Wednesday night to improve to 9-1in CCL play.
MADISON >> Ent er i ng Wednesday night, three teams remained in contention for the Central Counties League boys basketball title: Madison, McGraw and Otselic Valley.
By the end of the evening, the race was down to two.
The Blue Devils closed the third quarter on a 14-2 run and went on to beat the Vikings 85-59 at home, improving to 9-1 in league play and getting one step closer to their first league title since 1997-98.
“It feels real good,” said Madison coach Dan Mitchell. “One game at a time, we’re crossing them off and we’re getting closer.”
Madison has two more league games to cross off, both against a DeRuyter team that earned its first win in CCL play against Stockbridge Valley on Wednesday.
Two wins would give the Blue Devils the title outright, a win and a loss would tie them with McGraw - which finished its CCL schedule with a 10-2 record - and two losses would make the Eagles the champions.
Otselic Valley fell to 7- 4 in CCL play, ending its slim chances at a league title.
Tyler Hummer scored 19 points to lead five Blue Devils in double- digit scoring while tying Logan Snyder and Tyler Eaton for the team lead with five assists.
Jacob Brouillette and Sam Matteson scored 16 points apiece and Matteson grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds. Snyder added 14 points and Eaton netted 12 in the winning effort.
Matt Neal scored 23 points to lead Otselic Valley, 17 of which came in the first half as he found space in Madison’s zone on several occasions.
Neal scored the Vikings’ first 10 points - eight coming on Jason Olin assists - to give the visitors a 10-9 lead. Snyder put Madison on top for good with six straight points and the hosts scored the final 12 points of the quarter to take a 21-10 lead into the second.
The Blue Devils didn’t slow down there. Snyder opened the second quarter with a 3-pointer and Matteson scored to extend the run to 17 unanswered points, giving Madison a 26-10 lead.
Austin Reynolds made a 3-pointer to end the Vikings drought and start a comeback. Jordan Baerga scored five unanswered points before Neal did the same minutes later, helping Otselic Valley cut the advantage to 40-32 at halftime.
“Half of our talk in the locker room was ‘ are we going to find (Neal) now,’” said Mitchell. “We didn’t find him in the first half. He made a couple shots, we talked about it and they still didn’t find him. He was their hot hand for sure.”
Madison limited Neal to just six more points in the second half but Otselic Valley was still able to pull within 49- 46 after two 3-pointers by Angel Marshall. Eaton answered on Madison’s next possession with a 3-pointer of his own before Matteson and Brouillette each added a basket from behind the arc.
Hummer chipped in with four points to help the hosts close the quarter on a 14-2 run and take a 63- 48 lead into the final period.
Brouillette and Matteson combined to score seven more points for Madison in the first minute of the fourth quarter, putting the game away for good.
Tempers began to flare in the closing minutes and Madison’s Brady Klein was ejected for shoving Reynolds after the Vikings player had committed a foul.
Cooler heads quickly prevailed and the Blue Devils ended the game on a high note when Talon Abrams scored their final basket, drawing one of the nights biggest cheers from the large crowd.