Madison Central hammers No. 1 Covington Catholic in postseason primer
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- Madison Central snapped its 13-game losing streak to Covington Catholic.
- Jake Feldhaus scored 19 with 13 rebounds; three teammates also reached double figures.
- Madison Central (27-3) enters its district semifinal vs. Madison Southern with momentum.
Madison Central has played Covington Catholic at the end of the regular season nearly every year for the last 17 years.
The goal? A tournament atmosphere and top-notch tune-up for the Indians’ postseason.
The results to date? Thirteen straight losses to the Colonels heading into Friday night’s game on Allen Feldhaus Jr. Court in HB Gymnasium.
This year, Covington Catholic came to Richmond as the No. 1 team in the state with only one loss on its record.
No. 4 Madison Central handed it another — a 70-60 defeat that never seemed as close as the final score.
“Two top teams in the state, last game of the year, our Senior Night — it’s kind of always been like a rivalry, almost,” said Jake Feldhaus, who led the Indians with 19 points and 13 rebounds on the day he was named a Mr. Basketball finalist as 11th Region player of the year. “We knew coming up to this game that it’s going to be a pretty big game, and we capitalized.”
The Indians jumped to an 8-0 lead that included a Luke Asher dunk and a Will Richardson 3-pointer in the first three minutes that sent the home half of an estimated crowd of more than 2,200 into a frenzy and prompted a Covington Catholic timeout.
But the Colonels, who are used to being the aggressor, never did get their bearings. Since Covington Catholic’s prior loss to No. 13 Male way back on Dec. 20 and a close win over No. 12 North Laurel the next day, the Colonels have beaten the rest of their opponents by an average of 32 points.
“They haven’t been even challenged since Christmas. I mean, Moeller came within 12 the other night, and that’s the closest anybody’s been,” Madison Central coach Allen Feldhaus Jr. said. “So we said, we want to get them back on their heels. They’re used to getting other teams on their heels. … We think we’ve got a pretty good defense, too.”
Athens McGillis, Covington Catholic’s Mr. Basketball finalist as 9th Region player of the year, was the only Colonel in double figures scoring.
“I thought Will Richardson did a phenomenal job on Athens McGillis,” Coach Feldhaus said. “He ended up with 20, but he was 8-for-24, too. So he had to work his tail off to get it.”
The Indians placed three other players in double figures as Asher chipped in 17, Grayson Burton added 15 and Cam Steele scored 11. Madison Central took its largest lead, 58-37, late in the third quarter.
“We’re not just Jake Feldhaus. We’ve got other guys that can play,” Coach Feldhaus said. “And (Jake) understands that. These other teams kind of have to pick their poison. We want them to double (Jake) because we think we got other guys who can make plays.”
Covington Catholic (26-2) most often would send Steele’s defender to help against Feldhaus. Steele made them pay.
“I don’t want to go out there and force anything. My job is really just to create shots for other people, but it’s important that I can hurt defenses when they leave me,” Steele said. “I’ve been working on my game a lot, and it showed up tonight.”
He earned high praise from his coach.
“Cam Steele has been the most improved player we had this year compared to last year,” Coach Feldhaus said. “He’s such a leader. He’s tough. He wants somebody to get after him. He’s making good decisions. He’s been the biggest difference between last year and this year as our point guard — hands down.”
Next, Madison Central (27-3) faces rival Madison Southern (18-12) in the 44th District semifinals at 8 p.m. Tuesday at Eastern Kentucky’s Baptist Health Arena, which is also home to the following week’s 11th Region Tournament.
Friday’s win over Covington Catholic should provide the Indians with plenty of momentum for its postseason run.
“We think it’s a perfect game to play that last game of the regular season,” Coach Feldhaus said. “Another top program out of the region with a tournament-type atmosphere. It sure is nice to get ‘em every once in a while.”
For what it’s worth, the last time Madison Central beat Covington Catholic, it went on to win nine more games that year.
The last was the 2013 Boys’ Sweet 16 state championship.
This story was originally published February 21, 2026 at 1:41 AM.
