Twenty of those turnovers came in the first half alone, thanks to Madison County’s relentless defensive pressure.
“That’s how we want to play,” coach Steve Crouse said. “We really challenged the guys to play great defense for 32 minutes and I think that’s what we did.”
Madison County hopes its best start in years continues Friday on the road against Augusta-area school Aquinas (4-1).
“I’m looking forward to it,” Crouse said. “For our players, it’s going to be a good opportunity to play on the road.”
The other story of Tuesday night belonged to senior standout Patrick McCrary, who posted a triple double. The 6’5” senior scored 18 points, grabbed 10 boards and blocked 10 shots.
McCrary hit eight of his last nine shots from the field after missing his first five.
“What else can you say about Patrick McCrary? … He just works so hard,” Crouse said. “That was huge for him tonight.”
McCrary was one of four Red Raiders to reach double figures.
Fresh off a 21-point performance against Franklin County, Trae Burton recorded a double-double with 15 points and 10 boards.
T.J. McGuire added 14 points and Bradley Raines had 13 as Madison County moved to 3-2 in region play.
The Red Raiders feasted off steals and fast break points in earning their most lopsided win of the year.
Up 43-29 at the half, Madison County scored on three straight fast breaks to spark a 15-0 run to effectively put Loganville away. The Red Raiders then stretched their lead out to 71-37 after three quarters.
“Our transition game was really good tonight,” Crouse said.
And that’s where Madison County hopes to get a healthy percentage of its points nightly.
“We would like to basically be 40-40-20,” Crouse explained. “Forty percent of our offense coming in transition, 40 percent coming in the half court offense, and 20 percent coming at the free throw line.”
With eight victories, Madison County has now equaled its win total from last year in just 10 games. But more importantly, the Red Raiders looked dominant in getting win no. 8.
“Yeah, 8-2 feels good; to play good tonight (Tuesday) feels even better,” Crouse said. “We’ve had some games we’ve won but we didn’t play well. But we played well tonight and it showed on the scoreboard.”
•Madison Co. 59, Franklin Co. 49 (Dec. 12): Trae Burton scored a career-high 21 points Saturday as Madison County knocked off Franklin County 59-49 in Carnesville.
With five minutes left in the game, Burton, a 6’3” sophomore, grabbed an outlet pass from Patrick McCrary and threw down a dunk to give Madison County an insurmountable 47-33 lead as the Red Raiders beat the rival Lions.
“We know he’s capable of scoring,” Crouse said of Burton. “We’re very confident that that is something he can do.”
Burton — who also had nine boards — was 7-of-9 from two-point range, which Crouse called “unbelievable,” Crouse said.
McCrary added 12 points.
As far the overall effort, Crouse pointed to his team’s shooting percentages from two-point range (60 percent) and the three-point line (36 percent) as well as its assist total (19).
“All of those things are really positive for us,” Crouse said.
Madison County, which out-rebounded Franklin County 39-22, collected 30 defensive rebounds and allowed just seven offensive boards.
Franklin County hit three three-pointers in the first 9:30 of the game to take a 19-12 second quarter lead, but Madison County rallied.
Bradley Raines drilled a three-pointer late in the second quarter against the Lions’ zone defense to give the Red Raiders a 24-21 lead. Madison County never trailed again.
“We didn’t start well, but we finished well,” Crouse said. “And our defense picked up as the night went on.”
•Rockdale Co. 62, Madison Co. 50: Twenty-five points and 13 rebounds from Bradley Raines weren’t enough to lead Madison County to an upset victory over Rockdale County Friday in a 62-50 loss in Conyers.
Raines went 8-of-9 from the free throw line in the losing cause.
“He shooting the ball very well from the free throw line … that’s his best shot right now,” Crouse said.
Madison County, however, turned the ball over 25 times and only had seven assists. As a result, Madison County only attempted 29 shots to Rockdale County’s 55.
“Why? We turned it over and they got 20 offensive boards,” Crouse said.
Patrick McCrary added 15 points for the Red Raiders, who trailed by just three points with three minutes to go.
“I’m very proud of how hard our guys played,” Crouse said. “We came out with a lot of energy and played great defense.”
MCHS 75, Loganville 47 (Dec. 15)
LHS 16 13 8 10 — 47
MCHS 27 16 28 4 — 75
Scorers: P. McCrary 18, Burton 15, McGuire 14, Raines 13, Maxwell 6, Butler 4, Parrish 3, T. McCrary 2
MCHS 59, Franklin Co. 49 (Dec. 12)
MCHS 9 15 15 20 — 59
FCHS 16 5 8 20 — 49
Scorers: Burton 21, McCrary 12, Maxwell 9, Raines 8, McGuire 7, Thomas 2
Rockdale Co. 62, MCHS 50 (Dec. 11)
MCHS 9 13 17 11 — 50
RCHS 13 19 12 18 — 62
Scorers: Raines 25, McCrary 15, Maxwell 4, McGuire 3, Thomas 2, Burton 1
