‘Pretty dangerous.’ Madison Central shows it can attack or come back in consecutive wins
Frederick Douglass boys’ basketball coach Jason Moseley warned his team about Madison Central’s Allen Feldhaus Jr. Court advantage before their game on Wednesday.
“I told my guys walking in here we were down 15,” Moseley said. “And I don’t really think they really believed me going into the game until we legitimately got down 15.”
Coach Allen Feldhaus Jr.’s team ranks No. 12 in the state, according to Dave Cantrall. Madison Central (15-7) is also the defending 11th Region champion.
While the Indians’ lineup lacks depth (usually only one sub comes off the bench), it seems to have the experience, firepower and grit to raise the 11th Region trophy once more.
“My kids are buying in defensively and when we hit shots — when Will (Hardin) gets hot and Jaylen (Davis) gets hot — we’re pretty dangerous,” Feldhaus said.
Both No. 19 Henry Clay and Frederick Douglass traveled to Richmond this week to test themselves against Madison Central and the Indians’ famous home-court advantage. Both went home to Lexington with losses. But each game played out differently.
On Tuesday, Henry Clay dominated the Indians for three quarters. But Madison Central rallied late to force overtime and ultimately won 56-52. The Indians’ first lead came in the OT.
On Wednesday, the momentum the Indians gained against the Blue Devils carried over and was unleashed on Douglass. Madison Central jumped to a 22-point halftime lead on the way to a 72-54 victory. It never trailed.
Henry Clay: the defensive battle
“(Tuesday) was a defensive battle. We were struggling offensively, but Coach always says our defense will keep us in it and it did,” said the senior Hardin, Madison Central’s leading scorer at 19.9 points per game. “Then we started hitting shots in the fourth quarter and it carried into overtime and we were able to win.”
Madison Central made only five of 21 shots in the first half against Henry Clay as the Blue Devils forced turnovers and altered shots to help build a 24-14 halftime lead. The Indians still trailed 36-28 after three periods.
But remember what Feldhaus said about when his team hits shots?
Shooting a putrid 32 percent to that point, Madison Central hit five of its nine fourth quarter shots, including two three-pointers by Davis and another from Hardin. Hardin got to the foul line with 1:12 left in regulation and tied the game 44-44. Henry Clay held for a last shot and missed at the rim.
Madison Central had outscored Henry Clay 16-8 in the fourth.
“In the second half, defensively, we didn’t play with the aggressiveness we had in the first half,” Henry Clay Coach Daniel Brown said. “That’s a credit to them. Their main guys kind of took over and then we kind of got a little lackadaisical on offense.”
The Indians opened the overtime with a Davis layup and two Hardin 15-foot fade-away jumpers to set the cushion they needed for the victory. Kanye Henderson’s drive into the lane with a chance to tie in the closing seconds of overtime rolled out. Henderson led Henry Clay with 21 points.
“I feel like we gave ourselves a chance to win the game, and that’s all you want to do,” Brown said. “And in overtime, we fought back and gave ourselves another chance to tie or win the game and the ball just didn’t go.”
Madison Central’s Davis finished with 19 points, 14 of them after halftime. Hardin finished with 18 points, all of them after halftime.
“I couldn’t throw it into the ocean in the first half,” Hardin said. “You’ve just got to stick with it. Once that first one goes in then you kind of get a rhythm going.”
Rhythm found against Broncos
Unfortunately for Douglass, on Wednesday Hardin made the first layup of the game off the opening tip and nailed his first three-pointer, as well. When the final horn sounded, Hardin had a game-high 29 points that included making five of his six three-point tries.
His teammates fed off that energy. Davis scored 19 points with four three-pointers. Robby Todd added 15 points.
Madison Central closed each quarter with a made three-point basket.
Douglass was led by Tyson Barrett’s 20 points and 15 rebounds. The Broncos had won five out of their last six games and had hit on their formula for success, Moseley said.
“We attacked. We attacked the basket hard and controlled what we can control and we played on the defensive end,” Moseley said. “I think our thing is if we play defense and we rebound, we’ll be fine, but the problem is tonight, we didn’t defend and we didn’t rebound and we didn’t get 50/50 balls and things like that.”
Moseley hopes there’s a lesson in the loss.
“It was good for us. We got hit in the mouth and now we’re back to reality,” he said.
‘Battle tested’
Reality includes a game at No. 1 Clark County on Tuesday. The postseason is less than three weeks away.
“Every night, you’re going to have a tough contest and you’ve got to get up for it,” Moseley said. “For us, we’ve just got to continue to fight. We’ve got to continue to get better and box out and rebound and compete every possession, every play.
Henry Clay isn’t shying from competition either. The Blue Devils are scheduled to face No. 5 North Laurel (18-4) on Saturday.
Madison Central visits No. 8 Lexington Catholic (19-4) on Tuesday. Perhaps no team has faced a tougher schedule than the Indians.
The KHSAA’s RPI ratings reveal Madison Central’s opponents’ winning percentage averages 0.69731, the highest in the state. Six of Madison Central’s seven losses are to top 25 teams.
That suits Feldhaus fine.
“That’s the way we like it because our guys are battle tested,” Feldhaus said. “And when we get in tournament time, I don’t think we’re gonna be afraid of anybody.”
