Madison County girls’ basketball coach Dan Lampe felt his team was susceptible to a letdown following a rout of Class AAA’s no. 1 team, Franklin County, Saturday.
The reality proved worse than his fear.
The Lady Raiders (7-3 overall, 4-1 region) were walloped at home Tuesday night by Loganville 64-47. Madison County trailed by 23 points at halftime.
“I feared that we wouldn’t come out ready to play,” said Lampe, whose team dominated Franklin County 56-29 Saturday. “I would never have guessed this.”
Madison County will try to get off the deck Friday when it travels to Aquinas for a non-region matchup with the Augusta-area school.
In the meantime, the Lady Raiders are back on the practice court trying to fix what went wrong against Loganville.
Madison County started the game in a 23-4 hole and never found its way out. The Lady Raiders trailed by as much as 29 at one point in the second half.
Lampe said much of Tuesday’s struggles stemmed from a lack of effort, a stark contrast from Saturday’s win over Franklin County.
Included in the team’s checklist for each game is to sprint down the floor, box out and crash the offensive boards, none of which happened Tuesday, Lampe said.
“I told them we were 0-for-3 tonight (Tuesday),” Lampe said.
Easy baskets were another issue. The coach said Loganville beat his team down the court too many times.
“How many uncontested lay-ups?” Lampe said.
Lampe said his group has to start putting together strong performances back-to-back rather than continue this helter-skelter trend.
“You don’t want to be a fickle team,” Lampe said.
The good thing, Lampe said, is that his squad has the entire Christmas break to get back on track.
That includes an appearance in the Deep South Classic Dec. 28-30.
Because once subregion play starts in January, Madison County won’t be able to afford many off nights.
“We better be ready to roll come subregion,” Lampe said.
•Madison Co. 56, Franklin Co. 29 (Dec. 12): Facing Class AAA’s no. 1 team, Madison County held Franklin County to season-low offensive totals in a 56-29 domination of its border rivals Saturday in Carnesville.
The Lady Raiders limited the Lady Lions — who scored 96 points earlier this year in a win over Brookwood — to just one basket in the first quarter and eight points in the first half to earn a big non-region victory.
“The girls’ defense really stepped up,” coach Dan Lampe said. “It was defense first and defense led to our offense.”
Madison County got a big offensive boost from Shantydra Arnold who scored a season-high 20 points. The senior guard hit 4-of-4 from behind the three-point arc.
“If we can just do that on a night-to-night basis,” Lampe said of the three-point shooting.
Kayla Freeman added 12 points.
Madison County led 14-2 after one quarter and 27-5 with less than two minutes left in the first half.
Franklin County cut the Lady Raiders’ lead to 32-18 in the third quarter but Madison County answered with a 14-1 run, sparked by a put-back by Freeman and a three-pointer from Arnold which put the Lady Raiders back up by 20.
•Madison Co. 55, Rockdale Co. 45 (Dec. 11): The Lady Raiders picked up another victory against a Region 8-AAAA South foe, beating Rockdale County 55-45 in Conyers Friday.
“They are much improved,” coach Dan Lampe said of Rockdale County. “They have a new coach and some new players.”
Three different Madison County players reached double figures as the Lady Raiders, who led 27-13 at the half, stayed undefeated in region play.
Madison County built a sizable second half lead but watched Rockdale County claw its way back.
“We had Rockdale County down 17-20 midway through the third quarter, and we let them slowly edge back into it,” Lampe said.
Shantyrda Arnold scored 14 points, followed by Kayla Freeman (12) and Lauren Smith (10).
Loganville 64, Madison Co. 47 (Dec. 15)
LHS 26 14 11 13 — 64
MCHS 6 11 8 22 — 47
Scorers: Smith 16, Freeman 13, Coberly 8, Arnold 6, Chappell 2, Sorrells 2
MCHS 56, Franklin Co. 29 (Dec. 12)
MCHS 14 13 19 10 — 56
FCHS 2 6 11 10 — 29
Scorers: Arnold 20, Freeman 12, Glaze 7, Smith 6, LaZear 6, Fleming 3, Coberly 2
MCHS 55, Rockdale Co. 45 (Dec. 11)
MCHS 14 13 11 17 — 55
RCHS 9 4 13 19 — 45
Scorers: Arnold 14, Freeman 12, Smith 10, LaZear 9, Whieldon 4, Chappell 4, Glaze 2
