MADISON — It’s not even a comparison. There was no team that was sidelined because of the weather quite like Madison County. The unbeaten Mountaineers had to wait a full 20 days between games, but it sure didn’t look like it on Thursday night against Strasburg in the Bull Run semifinals. From the opening tipoff it was all Madison all night, as the Mountaineers coasted to a 73-31 drubbing of the Rams.
“I was a little worried that we might not have our rhythm, especially with our jump shots and on the outside,” said Madison coach Ben Breeden. “But I was very pleased with the effort and the results.”
Madison started the game on 16-0 run that featured two of David Falk’s four dunks on the night and a slew of long range shots from Logan Terrell, Matt Garr and Jerel Carter.
“Those dunks weren’t all me,” Falk said. “I’ve got to say that my teammates set me up perfectly on those.”
Six of Falk’s first eight points came on dunks, and for injury sake, Breeden has pleaded with the 6-foot-5 forward to take it easy in practice.
“I’m sure he enjoyed this tonight because I have to keep him off the rim in practice,” Breeden said. “He’ll bang his fingers up and what not so I have to tell him to stop dunking.”
Falk, Terrell, Garr and Patrick Lucas forced the Rams to watch the paint, and with a number of open looks, Carter made them pay with a trio of 3-pointers.
Perhaps the only thing more impressive than Madison’s offensive onslaught was the intensity with which they played on defense, forcing more than a dozen first half turnovers to increase an 18-point lead at the beginning of the first quarter all the way out to 27 points going into the third.
“We’ve been working on our defense all weekend,” Falk said. “We’ve been concentrating on locking teams down.”
Ten different players registered a field goal for the Mountaineers, with the usual suspects leading the way offensively. Falk and Carter each finished with 14, while Terrell was close behind with 13. Trey Hansley came off the bench and scored seven points.
The Mountaineers will host George Mason tonight for the Bull Run championship at 7 p.m. The Mountaineers beat the Mustangs by 12 points in their only prior meeting this season.
“We have to contain their point guard (Aaron Young),” Breeden said. “He had five threes on us so we know he can shoot. We just have to be solid on him and we’re looking forward to the challenge.”
