The Madison County boys basketball team was in uncharted territory Friday night. Having suffered a five-point loss at Central-Woodstock on Thursday, just their second of the year, the Mountaineer faithful was interested in seeing how their team would bounce back.
They were not disappointed.
Freshman Dalton Taylor scored 21 points, including an 8-for-8 performance from the free-throw line, to lead four Mountaineers in double figures and Madison jumped ahead quickly and never looked back in an 80-55 victory over visiting Warren County.
Madison began the game on a 17-2 run and led 21-8 after a first quarter in which they forced five Warren County turnovers. The Mountaineers kept their collective foot on the gas in the second frame, beginning the period on an 8-2 spurt featuring two long three-pointers from Taylor.
“You’re always interested to see how your team is going to respond after a tough loss,” Madison head coach Ben Breeden said. “Especially when you have a young team with freshmen who play significant minutes. I thought we were really intense and consistent tonight on both sides of the ball.”
The lead got as large as 21 midway through the quarter on a driving layup by Isiah Smith, who spent much of the evening juking Wildcat defenders out of their sneakers and either finishing himself or dishing it to teammates for open shots.
The Mountaineers hit a brief dry spell toward the end of the second quarter, but their defense held the Wildcats to just five points during that stretch and Isaiah Breckenridge’s triple made the margin 38-19 at the half.
“I thought we did a great job looking for and finding the open man, which is something we’ve been working on,” Breeden said. “Kicking the ball ahead in transition really helped because we’ve got great team speed.”
Madison picked up right where it left off to open the second half, getting three consecutive fast-break baskets, two from Smith and the other by Dre Twyman. After a Cameron Ford three stopped the bleeding for Warren County, Taylor hit his third three of the game followed by a pair of free throws to give Madison its largest lead to that point at 49-22. Madison led 59-31 after three, giving them a chance to get their lesser-used players some valuable court time.
One of those players, Cory Sims, drained a triple to open the scoring in the fourth quarter to give Madison its largest lead of the game and sending the crowd into a frenzy. Warren County showed some fight in the final period, draining six three-pointers to make the margin a little less lopsided. The Wildcats finished 9-of-29 from beyond the arc.
In addition to Taylor’s output, Dylan Breeden added 17 points for Madison while Twyman and Smith had 11 and 10, respectively. Ford led Warren County with 12 while Collin Garnett chipped in with 11.
Madison returns to action Friday night when it hosts archrival William Monroe at 7:45 p.m.
