Upset alert: Madison Central basketball holds on for statement win

The hundreds of kids pouring out of a student section onto the court as the final horn sounded told the story better than any words could.

Madison Central picked up its biggest win of the season, and one of the biggest in the state, period, as it upset Trinity, 53-52, on its home floor Friday night. The Shamrocks, ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press rankings and No. 3 in the latest Cantrall Ratings, suffered only their second loss of the season, the other coming against fellow Louisville power Fern Creek (AP No. 5, Cantrall No. 9) in the King of the Bluegrass finals.

The Indians, ranked fifth by Cantrall and unranked in the AP poll, improved to 2-6 against teams in the Cantrall top 10. Their only previous victory was over fellow 11th Region contender Lafayette, with whom they’ve split two meetings this season and who’s ranked No. 7 by Cantrall.

Dustin Geralds led Madison Central (17-5) with 16 points on 7-for-14 shooting. Isaiah Minter had 12 points, seven rebounds and four steals.

Minter’s biggest baskets came over a crucial span of about 30 seconds. He gained an and-one opportunity on a layup conversion with 1:14 left. He missed the free throw but the rebound was eventually gathered by Geralds, who prevented it from going out of bounds near midcourt. The ball worked its way back to Minter, who got free for another layup and gave Madison Central a 52-46 lead with about 45 seconds left.

Trinity chipped into the Indians’ lead thanks to some timely baskets and missed free throws. Geralds made the first of two attempts with nine seconds left to put Central up 53-50. Trinity secured the rebound off the second attempt and pushed up the floor. Jay Scrubb ended up with a made layup but time expired on the Shamrocks’ rally.

“Really, if we hit our free throws we win by 10,” Indians Coach Allen Feldhaus said. “We had our two best free throw shooters up there and they just missed. It’s good that Geralds hit that one to give us a little breathing room.”

David Johnson, a highly-ranked junior who was once committed to Louisville, had a game-high 17 points and six rebounds for the Shamrocks (19-2). Trinity, the favorite to come out of the 7th Region, ended the game with only two assists, but attributed to Johnson.

It might have had more dimes if not for Isaiah Cozart, Madison Central’s own star. The 6-foot-7 junior had nine points, 10 rebounds and six blocked shots – and altered probably twice that many.

“We have the luxury of, if they do drive, we’ve got a pretty good eraser when they get to the rack,” Feldhaus said.

Madison Central’s next game is at Henry Clay at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. The Blue Devils (11-9) fell at home to Lafayette, 68-64, on Friday.

Trinity will host DeSales (10-9) at 4 p.m. Saturday.

This story was originally published January 26, 2018 at 10:34 PM with the headline "Upset alert: Madison Central basketball holds on for statement win."