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THE MADISON COUNTY (GA) JOURNAL. THURSDAY. FEBRUARY 19. 2009 — PAGE 3B
Region 8-AAAA Basketball Tournament
Juvonna Fleming attempts a free throw during Madison
County’s Friday win over Rockdale County. The Lady
Raiders shot 42 free throws in the victory. Jessica Brown/
MainStreet Newspapers
Lady Raiders win physical contest
45-pt. win clinches
state tourney berth
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews.com
WINDER—An easy win it
was. A comfortable game it was
not.
Madison County (21-5) beat
Rockdale County 71-26 Friday
in a rough-and-tumble affair to
advance to the region semifinals
Tuesday against Loganville (18-8)
in Winder.
The victory also clinched a
fourth-straight state tournament
appearance for the Lady Raiders.
Rockdale County (5-18) racked
up in the foul department, com
mitting three intentional fouls
— two in the first half — while
sending the Lady Raiders to the
floor hard on several occasions.
Madison County shot 42 free
throws, hitting 32 of them.
The Lady Bulldogs" physical
play was expected.
“We knew this coming in"
Lady Raider coach Dan Lampe
said. “We scouted them."
But Madison County stepped
up to the challenge — bypassing
three-point shots, driving hard
into the paint and drawing fouls.
The Lady Raiders hit 20-of-26
free throw attempts in the first
half and took a 37-18 lead into the
locker room.
“That's the main thing." Lampe
said. “We didn’t settle for the out
side shot."
Courtney Freeman led a trio of
scorers in double figures, finish
ing with 20 points. Lauren Smith
added 16 and Shantydra Arnold
threw in 13.
Nine different players scored as
Lampe slowly worked his subs in
during the fourth quarter.
Madison County allowed just
eight points in the second half and
picked up 20 steals in the game,
compared to just eight turnovers.
“That's a great ratio,” Lampe said.
“I can definitely live with that."
Madison County took care of
business on a day — Friday the
13 th — when Region 8-AAAA's
other no. 1 seed tumbled.
Cedar Shoals stunned Salem
58T6, knocking the Lady
Seminoles out of the tournament.
Salem beat Madison County by
three points earlier this year.
“That was huge." Lampe said,
adding that he would have liked
to have had another shot at
Salem.
MADISON CO. 71
ROCKDALE CO. 26
RCHS 11 7 5 3 — 26
MCHS 22 15 17 17 — 71
Leading scorers: C. Freeman 20,
Smith 16, Arnold 13
Valiant Raiders fall short in OT
T.J. McGuire gets airborne around the rim in Madison County’s 61-58 overtime loss to
Rockdale County Saturday. Ben Munro/staff
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews.com
WINDER—Madison
County’s Seth Fleming drilled
a pair of three-pointers in the
final 21 seconds of regulation to
force overtime against Rockdale
County, but the Raiders couldn't
recreate the magic in the extra
period.
Madison County fell 61-58
to the top-seeded Bulldogs
Saturday in the region tourna
ment. denying the program its
first trip to the state tournament
in 12 years.
"It was a heartbreak game to
be that close to beating the no. 1
team,” coach Steve Crouse said.
Madison County (8-18),
which upset Cedar Shoals four
days earlier, gave no. 1 seed
Rockdale County fits, though.
The Raiders led 23-20 at
the half and later rallied from
a 52-48 deficit in the waning
moments to force overtime.
Fleming, who finished with
14 points, nailed a three-pointer
in the comer with 21 seconds
left to cut the lead to 52-51.
Rockdale County followed
with a pair of free throws, but
Fleming struck again with a
three-pointer— his fourth of the
game — from near the top of
the key to tie the game.
But missed free throws and
turnovers would haunt Madison
County in overtime.
With the game tied 56-56,
the Raiders missed four-straight
attempts at the charity stripe.
Madison County then turned
the ball over on three-straight
possessions, as Rockdale
County took a 60-56 lead.
Fleming later fouled out with
19 seconds left, leaving the hot-
shooting Raider on the bench for
the final stretch.
The Raiders trailed by three in
the final seconds, but never got
a good look at the basket in their
final possession. With a defender
on him, Ben Morris missed a
three-pointer as time — and the
Raiders' upset bid — expired.
"They played so hard and they
did really well,” Crouse said. “I
was very, very proud of every
thing they did.”
Madison County grabbed
more offensive rebounds than
Rockdale County (18-13) and
had more assists (15-11), but
turned the ball over 19 times
and made just 10-of-20 free
throws.
Crouse said the elements were
in place for an upset — care
ful preparation, game-pace and
desire — but the Raiders came
up short again in painful fashion.
“We had a good game plan;
our kids executed it to the best
of their abilities,” Crouse said.
“We took them to overtime. I
just wish it could have had a dif
ferent outcome,”
ROCKDALE CO. 61,
MADISON CO. 58 OT
MCHS 9 14 14 17 (4) - 58
RCHS 9 11 19 15 (7)-61
Scorers: McCrary 17, Fleming
14, Raines 11, Davis 7, Smith 4,
Morris 3, McGuire 2
Support fladison County
Raiders
... continued from page IB
L»J :
t»T«ri n K
Madison County will experience
a major overhaul in the backcourt
due to graduation, but returns lead
ing scorer Patrick McCrary —
who's nearing 1,000 career points
— in the front court. McCrary
was selected to the all-tournament
team, one of only three juniors. He
averaged 14 points a game and a
hair under 10 rebounds this year.
The Raiders also return Bradley
Raines who averaged double fig
ures in scoring.
Still, Crouse thought everything
was in place this year to finally
crack that ceiling.
“They took us farther and closer
than we’ve ever been,” Crouse said
of this year’s team. “I thought this
was going to be the group. I really
did.”
So Crouse offered a parting trib
ute to his seniors, who could have
easily shrugged the postseason off
after a 7-17 regular season, he
said.
Instead, it came three points shy
of a state tournament berth.
“I said guys, ‘We're going to
push through this one year, and
we’re going to get there,"’ Crouse
said. “And I said, ‘when we do, I’ll
call you and bring you back.'”
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