101 points? 70 percent shooting? Rowdy crowd? Madison Central has it all in upset.
Madison Central Coach Allen Feldhaus Jr. believed this year’s Indians were probably the best three-point shooting team he’s ever had — a bold statement from someone who has won a state championship and coached for 35 years.
His team backed it up Tuesday night.
The Indians made an astounding 15 out of 21 three-pointers in a thrilling 101-97 victory over Lexington Catholic in the first round of the boys’ 11th Region Tournament, a result made more stunning by the fact that the Knights had been ranked as the No. 1 team in the state most of this season and had beaten Madison Central by 15 points a month ago.
Playing in front of the largest crowd that’s been inside the Madison Central gym this season — under slightly relaxed COVID-19 guidelines — helped the team tremendously both Feldhaus and his players said.
“I told them winning that district and being able to play here, at home, was really big,” Feldhaus said. “This is the first time we’ve had an environment for the entire year. If it can make us make 15 threes every time, I’ll sneak ‘em in the back door or something.”
Sophomore Jaylen Davis scored a team-high 35 points, including five three-pointers, one that beat the halftime buzzer for a 45-41 lead.
“They gave us a lot of energy. It’s the fans really (that helped make the difference),” Davis said. “We feed off them.”
Davis tried to get the fans going early by grabbing a steal and going for a dunk just moments into the game, but the try missed. He only missed two more shots the entire game.
Madison Central torched the nets by making 31 of 44 field goals for an astonishing 70.5 field goal percentage. Their 71.4% rate from three-point range on 21 attempts is almost unheard of.
“It was the funnest game I’ve ever had,” said senior Kole Browne, who scored 24 points, made his only three-point attempt and did manage a dunk in the first quarter to get the crowd hyped.
Will Hardin, a 6-foot-4 junior center, created a massive matchup problem for Lexington Catholic’s bigger post players because of his dead-eye shooting and calm demeanor, Feldhaus said. Hardin made all five of his three-point tries in the first half on his way to six threes and 22 points in the game.
“We just ran through (Hardin) until he got in foul trouble,” Feldhaus said. “Their bigs could not guard him and we just wanted to bring him out on the floor. He’s so smart and under control and made the right decisions. That’s what got us off to a good start.”
The breakout game for Davis comes amid a season in which he lost his father, Ja’mal Davis, in February. Jaylen Davis missed the first Lexington Catholic game to spend time with family after his father’s death.
“I know he’s looking down on me and proud,” Davis said. “It’s all good, though. I feel like he’s in a better place now. He’s proud of all of us, really. He loved everybody on the team.”
Feldhaus said Davis is just scratching the surface of his potential.
“We’ve said that all along. We knew he could shoot the basketball,” Feldhaus said. “He’s got so much ability that he doesn’t even understand how much he’s got. It was a good time to show up tonight.”
As hot as the offense was, Feldhaus credited his defense, as well, even though it sounds odd given that the Indians gave up 97 points, 41 to Lexington Catholic’s Mr. Basketball candidate, Ben Johnson. Feldhaus broke out a special defense for Johnson on Tuesday, playing Johnson man-to-man while everyone else played a zone — also known as a “box and one” or “box and chaser.”
“I know Ben gets 41, but I thought the box and chaser was the difference,” Feldhaus said. “I think it caught them off guard. He’s gone off on us every time we’ve played them. … He had to work for those 41 tonight.”
Madison Central built the lead to 15 points early in the fourth quarter, but Lexington Catholic did not give up. The Knights trimmed the lead to 98-95 with 1:26 remaining, but could get no closer. Ryan Russell scored 25 and Jack Gohmann added 11 points for the Knights.
“Every time they hit us in the mouth there in the second half, we fought back,” Feldhaus said. “And we’ve struggled with that this year. We’d play with (a team) for a half and they’d hit us in the mouth and we wouldn’t respond.”
On to the semifinals
Next, Madison Central (19-9) faces Franklin County (15-9) in the late semifinal at 8:15 p.m. Thursday at Eastern Kentucky’s McBrayer Arena.
The Flyers, who won the 41st District championship last week, defeated Henry Clay 51-44 on Tuesday. Phillip Pfeifer led Franklin County with 14 points with Zac Cox and Fred Farrier scoring 12 and 11 points, respectively. Henry Clay’s Aziel Blackwell scored 15 points to lead the Devils.
The other semifinal features Lexington’s 42nd District champion Frederick Douglass (18-1) against 43rd District champ Paul Laurence Dunbar (13-5) in a rematch of a Jan. 12 tilt in which Dunbar rallied from double digits down in the fourth quarter to win 75-68.
Douglass defeated Madison Southern 62-50 Tuesday. Tyson Barrett and Kai Simpson each scored 16 points for the Broncos with Eastern Kentucky commit Dashawn Jackson adding 14 points. Barrett also grabbed 11 rebounds. Trent DeVries led the Eagles (11-12) with 19 points.
Dunbar topped Frankfort 78-54 in the other quarterfinal. Tim Hall led three Dunbar players in double figures with 28 points. Nick Spalding and Max VanDyke added 17 and 13 points, respectively. Jackson Twombly led Frankfort with 28 points.
11th Region semifinals
Thursday at EKU’s McBrayer Arena
5:30 p.m.: Frederick Douglass vs. Paul Laurence Dunbar
8:15 p.m.: Franklin County vs. Madison Central
Highlights
This story was originally published March 24, 2021 at 7:46 AM.
