MADISON TWP. — Due to a two-week quarantine period, Madison High’s boys basketball team took to the court Saturday night in what would be its third game in five days.
The Mohawks fell to Southwestern Buckeye League rival Eaton 71-54.
Madison moved out to an early 7-3 lead with Brogan Babcock contributing with four points.
Eaton began to go on a 13-4 run halfway through the first quarter. Travis Pittman who had a game-high 20 points, led the charge with a steal and a 3-pointer on back-to-back possessions, and the Eagles ended the quarter with a 16-11 lead.
The Mohawks struggled to rebound on both ends of the floor, leading to second-chance points for the Eagles.
“Right now, that’s our Achilles heel,” Madison coach Shane Richardson said. “We’re getting pushed around out there.”
Scoring was a little tighter in the second quarter, as the Mohawks applied pressure to Eaton causing a couple of turnovers which led to some transitions.
Madison was aided by the Eagles getting into foul trouble with nine total in the quarter. The Mohawks took advantage by going 3 for 5 from the free-throw line. With the 1:31 left in the half, Eaton only had a 21-19 lead but key shots by Power forward Xavier Trimble and Pittman gave a 26-21 lead at the half.
Eaton jumped out to a huge lead in the third quarter, leading by as many as 16. Madison did fight its way back thanks to free throws and turning up the tempo on defense.
“We got after it a little bit about midway through the third,” Richardson said. “We had about a seven or eight-minute stretch where we got after it and got back in transition defensively.”
At the end of the third, the Eagles held a 49-36 advantage as the momentum began to carry over for Eaton. Once again, the Mohawks fought back with two free throws by Evan Cox to cut the lead to 10.
With 2:53 left in the fourth quarter, Dontai Pendleton gave the Mohawks some hope by driving to the middle lane and making a spinning layup while getting fouled. That pulled the Mohawk deficit to 51-60, which was as close as the hosts would get the remainder of the contest.
Madison (1-2) played its third game since December 8, with only three practices before the season started officially started.
“Coming out of scrimmages we were doing great,” Richardson said. “We were looking great, then we hit a two-week quarantine the school went remote, they shut down athletics.
“We had our first practice on December 5. We had practiced the fifth, sixth and seventh, then we played on the eighth. This is our third game since December 8.”
Leading the way for Madison on offense was Jesse Allmon (16 points), Pendleton (14) and Cox (11). Eaton (1-1) was led by Travis Pittman’s game-high 20 points.
Madison will host Waynesville on Monday, which is the start of four games in a nine-day span. Eaton travels to Valley View on Tuesday.
Eaton 16 10 23 22—71
Madison 11 10 15 18—54
Eaton (1-1) — Long 3 1 8, Pittman 6 5 20, Reyna 0 2 2, Curtiss 3 0 7, Davis 1 0 3, Lewis 3 0 6, Boston 3 1 7, Trimble 4 2 10, Kiracofe 3 1 7. Totals 26 12 71.
Madison (1-2) — Pendleton 3 7 14, Murphy 1 0 2, Allmon 8 0 16, Cox 3 4 11, Babcock 2 2 6, Stanley 2 0 5. Totals 19 13 54.
3-Point Goals — E: Pittman 3, Davis 1, Curtiss 1, Long 1; M: Pendleton 1, Cox 1, Stanley 1.
