Madison’s storybook season ends with loss to Hubbardsville, 52-42

POTSDAM, N.Y.>> 24 consecutive victories.

The Madison Blue Devils boys hoops squad entered Saturday’s Class D Regional contest with the Harrisville Pirates at an undefeated 24-0.

25-0 was not to be however, as the Section III Blue Devils fell to the Section X Pirates, 5242, ending a magical, and at times dominant, run for Madison that saw the team average nearly 78 points per game in scoring.

“We had an incredible run, an incredible season,” Blue Devil head coach Dan Mitchell said when asked what he wanted his players to remember about the 2016-17 season. “We didn’t play our game today.”

Hubbardville’s RyanWeaver was the game-high scorer, pouring in 18 points for Harrisville while teammate Peyton Schmitt contributed 14.

Sam Matteson paced Madison with 15, and Tyler Hummer tallied 10 points.

The Blue Devils enjoyed a 23-21 halftime lead, but struggled to score to begin the third quarter.

After senior Blue Devil Lincoln Piasek scored the first basket of the second half to put Madison ahead 25-21, the Pirates proceeded to run off 14 unanswered points to take a 12-point, 37-29 lead. The Pirates did most of their damage from behind the three-point arc, knocking down four threepointers in less than four minutes. Weaver buried the first two shots from distance before teammate Dalton Church connected on a pair of his own long distance shots.

Meanwhile, on the other end of the floor, Madison never appeared to find its rhythmon offense as the Pirates congested the paint with swarming, physical defense. On at least two separate occasions, Matteson drove to the hoop and ap-

peared to draw contact and a foul as he tried to rally the Blue Devil offense, but the officials did not call a foul on either occasion, drawing the ire of the Blue Devil fan base that made the threeplus hour journey to Potsdam to cheer on the Madison team. Similarly, Mitchell said after the game that he wished his team had the opportunity to play Harrisville with “neutral refs.”

The Blue Devils did eventually make their run, trimming Harrisville’s doubledigit lead down to eight points on two quick baskets by Spencer Haviland and Matteson. As the third quarter ended, trailed the Pirates, 37-29.

Madison came close to recapturing the lead with less than four minutes remaining in the ballgame. Back-to-back shots by Piasek and Hummer closed the gap to 42-39, but that was as close as the Blue Devils would come to retaking the lead. Harrisville was solid from the foul line at the end of regulation, calmly converting bonus free throws to push its lead back to 10.

And thoughMitchell was disappointed with the refereeing, he credited the Pirates for their effort.

“They played a really good game,” he said, before turning his attention to his departing senior class.

“Our seniors led us this year,” Mitchell said. “They worked hard every day.”

Harrisville advances to next round and will compete in the class D state semifinal.

JOHN BREWER — ONEIDA DAILY DISPATCH Blue Devil Sam Matteson is greeted by three defenders as he goes up for a shot during Madison’s regional playoff loss to Harrisville on Saturday.