Though it is living a bit dangerously in subregion play, the Madison County girls’ basketball team remains undefeated in the 8-AAAA North standings after two games.
Madison County (12-4, 2-0) rebounded from a disastrous second quarter Tuesday to beat Winder-Barrow 53-48.
The victory over the Lady Bulldoggs followed a narrow 58-54 victory over Cedar Shoals Friday.
“It wasn’t pretty, but it was a win,” Lady Raider coach Dan Lampe said of the win over Winder-Barrow. “If we can just keep plugging away at practice … If you go all the way back to the Southwest Atlanta Christian game (the first game of the year), we’ve improved. We’ve made strides.”
Madison County continues subregion play Friday against Apalachee on the road before returning home Saturday for a non-region showdown with rival Franklin County.
The Lady Raiders then face a huge rivalry game Tuesday against Clarke Central.
Lampe notes that his team has the same record (12-4) to this point as last year’s region championship team did.
But it took a major rally to salvage Tuesday night’s victory.
Madison County trailed 34-20 at the half against Winder-Barrow after the Lady Bulldoggs put together a 19-0 run to end the second quarter.
Lampe said his team didn’t even discuss offense in the halftime locker room. The emphasis was on defense, and the Lady Raiders responded, allowing just four points in the third quarter as Madison County cut Winder-Barrow’s lead to 38-33.
“We came out with defensive focus and intensity and said, ‘we’re not going to roll over for this team,’” Lampe said.
Madison County then outscored Winder-Barrow 20-10 in the fourth quarter to dispose of the Lady Bulldoggs. Though the game didn’t unfold the way he’d have liked, Lampe commended his team for its resilience.
“They really showed their heart in this one,” Lampe said.
Lauren Smith led the Lady Raiders with 22 points while Shantydra Arnold added 13 and Kayla Freeman chipped in 10.
Though Madison County shot poorly from the floor, it went 11-of-14 from the line, which was a needed boost.
“That was huge for us,” Lampe said.
Madison County shoots for its fifth straight victory — and third subregion win — Friday against what Lampe calls a “much-improved” Apalachee team.
•Madison County 58, Cedar Shoals 54 (Jan. 8): Madison County coach Dan Lampe will take the victory, but the Lady Raiders’ close 58-54 win over Cedar Shoals in Friday’s subregion opener underscored the Lady Raiders’ need to stop opponents from getting to the basket.
“It’s good to win one like that … the thing we’ve got to improve is stopping the dribble penetration,” Lampe said. “That’s all they did.”
The constantly-penetrating Lady Jaguars rallied from a nine-point fourth quarter deficit, going ahead 51-49 with three minutes left in the game.
But Kayla Freeman came to the rescue for Madison County.
Freeman tallied six points down the stretch, which included scoring under the basket with 36 seconds left off a nice dish from Lauren Smith to give Madison County a two-possession lead at 58-53.
Freeman, who sat most of the first half in foul trouble, finished with 16 points, all of which came in the second half.
“We saw sparks of what Kayla can be in that game,” Lampe said.
Molly Glaze added a season-high 15 points, which included three three-pointers, which Lampe called “huge.”
MCHS 53, Winder-Barrow 48 (Jan. 12)
WBHS 15 19 4 10 — 48
MCHS 13 7 13 20 — 53
Scorers: Smith 22, Arnold 13, Freeman 10, Fleming 4, Glaze 2, LaZear 2
MCHS 58, Cedar Shoals 54 (Jan. 8)
CSHS 11 13 12 18 — 54
MCHS 15 10 15 18 — 58
Scorers: Freeman 16, Glaze 15, Smith 8, LaZear 6, Whieldon 5, Fleming 5, Arnold 3
