The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
Madison earns 2ndwin of season over Oriskany
The Madison boys basketball team pulled away from defending state-champion Oriskany in the second quarter, leading by as many as 22 points in the second half of Saturday’s victory.
UTICA, N.Y. >> The first time the boys basketball teams from Madison and Oriskany met this season, the Blue Devils used a strong second quarter to pull away and defeat the defending New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class D champion by 13 points.
Saturday’s rematch saw a similar margin in the final score but was decided much earlier.
Coach Dan Mitchell’s squad held the defending champion to just two second- quarter points, leading by as many as 22 in the second half of a 58- 44 victory in the first game of the inaugural Mohawk Valley Basketball Classic at Utica College.
“Just pushing the ball, that’s always been our strong point,” said Madison’s Sam Matteson. “Practicing a lot, just going at it, challenging ourselves, pushing ourselves, just like we’re competing against each other pretty much in practice.”
The junior forward led all scorers with 21 points in the victory, once again setting the pace for a balanced Blue Devil attack. Spencer Haviland and Tyler Hummer each had double-digit scoring outputs as well with 14 and 13 points, respectively.
Richard Phelps scored 17 points for Oriskany in defeat, followed by Ryan Enos with 11.
The two teams appeared to be in for another close contest in the first quarter. Matteson opened the scoring with a 3-pointer and added another basket off an offensive rebound before Jordan Crane crashed the offensive glass and scored as well, putting the Blue Devils ahead 7-6 early. Consecutive baskets by Phelps and Enos gave Oriskany a 10-8 edge but Hummer’s steal and fast-break lay-up in the closing minute of the opening period gave Madison the 13-12 advantage going into the second quarter.
The senior point guard’s play also sparked a 13- 0 run. Haviland scored four during that stretch while Hummer, Matteson and Ethan Snyder each tallied three to open up a 24-12 lead. Oriskany got its first basket of the period just 19.2 seconds before halftime when Phelps scored to break a drought of over eight minutes. Matteson, however, answered on the other end and made a 3-pointer to give the Blue Devils a 27-14 lead going into halftime.
“We just kind of started using our heads more,” said the junior. “We were kind of scrambling the first quarter, just a little, I don’t know, you could call it hyper. We just had to poise up a little bit andwe were able to collect ourselves.”
Haviland and Hummer scored the first two baskets of the second half and the Madison lead would continue to grow from there. Colton Stone’s 3-pointer with 1:22 to play in the period gave the Blue Devils their biggest lead of the game at 42-20 and they took that 22-point cushion into the final quarter.
Madison kept the lead near 20 for much of the fourth quarter, going ahead by 22 again with 2:35 to play following three quick baskets from Haviland, Hummer and Matteson before Oriskany closed the game on a 10-2 run.
Matteson was the first recipient of the Mohawk Valley Basketball Classic’s most valuable player award, named for longtime official Curt Newman who died in October.
“It’s really like a college atmosphere,” said the junior of the event. “Just so many fans and it’s just a positive place really. Fun basketball.”