MADISON TWP. — Kylie Wells was quick to point out that winning the not-so-glamorous games still counts as a notch in the victory column.
Wells scored a team-high 10 points and held the fort down inside the paint, Ella Campbell hit some timely free throws in the waning minutes and the Madison High School girls basketball team pulled away from Monroe for a 39-33 victory on Wednesday night.
With limited practice time during the holiday break for both squads, it took a little time for things to get going.
“I think we struggled in this one. It didn’t look good,” said Wells, a junior. “A lot of times we can play better. It was obviously a tough game with our shots not falling. But we pushed through, didn’t give up and got the win.”
Campbell, a senior, went 7 of 8 at the line in the fourth quarter, and freshman Olivia Carpenter tallied seven points to help boost Madison to 6-4 overall and 4-2 in the Southwestern Buckeye League.
“We were still trying to settle in. We had some miscues, and I attribute that to Christmas break,” Mohawks assistant coach Tommy McGuire said. “We usually shoot it a little bit better and finish a little bit better. We missed a lot of layups, but we made some shots when it counted.”
So did Campbell at the free throw line.
Campbell’s performance at the charity stripe in the final minutes separated things for good after Monroe pulled it to within 28-26 on a Saffron Weidner bucket with 5:25remaining.
Madison coach Brian McGuire called Wednesday’s triumph a nice bounce back from his squad’s last game — a 63-31 home loss to Talawanda on Dec. 19.
“We took care of the basketball towards the end of the game,” Brian McGuire said. “We didn’t do that against Talawanda. This was nice to see from the girls.”
Jordan McComas paced the Hornets with a game-high 11 points. The freshman came in averaging 11.4 a game.
“Having a long break and giving the kids off practice, we were just rusty in the beginning,” said Monroe coach Chad Adolph, whose Hornets have lost 5 out of their last 6 and slipped to 3-8 (0-5 SWBL).
Madison led 6-1 after one quarter, and the Hornets went to a full-court press to adjust the tempo. The Mohawks had issues handling the initial pressure in the second quarter, which allowed Monroe to take a 12-10 lead on Alexis Lovejoy’s 3-pointer with 2:33 remaining in the first half.
“Putting them in the full court and trying to get some things going — we had to do something,” Adolph said.
Wells scored the last five points before the halftime break to give Madison a 16-14 advantage.
“I think we struggled with the pressure at first and then we found a way to get past it,” Wells said. “It’s more passing the ball a lot than it is dribbling. If we pass it a lot and get it down the court, it makes things a lot better without turnovers.”
A 3-point bucket by Monroe’s Macy Creekbaum, who finished with six points, tied it at 24-24 at the end of the third quarter. Then Madison outscored Monroe 15-9 in the fourth period on its way to a third-straight win over the Hornets.
“We continued to push through,” Tommy McGuire said. “We didn’t let missed shots or anything like that control us. But what we were able to take away from this is the fact that we were able to win an ugly game. The win is all that matters.”
UP NEXT
Both teams won’t get back to action until after the new year. Monroe travels to Franklin on Thursday, Jan. 5, while Madison hosts Valley View that same day.
