Weather delays sub-region games

Lampe said he was hopeful that the games would be rescheduled to the week before the region tournament and condense the region tourney into one week. The scheduled games from this week, Clarke Central from Tuesday and the two home games on Friday and Saturday against Apalachee and Cedar Shoals, are all sub-region games and must be played.

Madison County was looking forward to playing Clarke Central as the teams usually match up well and, according to Lampe, it seems Clarke Central and the Lady Red Raiders seem to be the teams fighting for dominance.

Against Flowery Branch in the first sub-region victory for the girls, Madison County pulled ahead and had a chance to bury Flowery Branch, but slacked off.

“We played well, but had a couple of mental lapses,” Lampe said. “We took our foot off the gas and they started to catch up. We tend to lapse and that has been our MO all year. We push a team down and have a chance to bury them, but back off and and they come back and we push them down again.”

“I think we lose focus for bit, then when they come back we go ‘oh yeah, we’re still playing this game,’ and push back,” he said.

Madison County pulled ahead by 20 over Flowery Branch but during the second half Flowery Branch began rebounding and the Lady Red Raiders had to reapply the pressure to earn the win with a 15-point margin.

Kayla Freeman led with a double-double, 18 points and 15 rebounds, followed by Areil Sorrells with 16 points and Molly Glaze scoring 14 points.

“Those three are the ones we are looking to score with,” Lampe said. “They are our bona fide scorers. What we what to do is have those three to score and the others get their points from unscripted, hustle points. That is what we are looking at. As a whole we are finding our roles.”



Red Raiders win sub-region opener
Before the weather delayed this week’s athletic events, the Madison County Red Raiders started off sub-region play with a win over Flowery Branch. It was a close fight, but the Red Raiders prevailed with an 10-point victory, 61-51.

“The team played really well,” coach Stephen Crouse said.

The opener to the Region 8-AAAA North was intended to be a jump off point for the Red Raiders to start a run into sub-region play, but the inclement winter weather has forced postponement of the team’s second sub-region game.

Madison County was scheduled to host Clare Central on Tuesday, followed by back-to-back home games Friday and Saturday against Apalachee and Cedar Shoals. Snow and ice forced the school closing Tuesday, and a reschedule of the Clarke Central game. A make-up date has yet to be announced.

While the weekend games are still undecided, it is possible that Madison County might not return to the hardwood until next week as the Red Raiders head to Winder-Barrow, Jan. 18.

Against Flowery Branch, Stan Maxwell was the leading force for the Red Raiders as his double-double of 25 points and 12 rebounds pushed Madison County into its first sub-region victory. Trae Burton followed, scoring 10 points, while Dominique Parrish and Trey Carruth each tallied nine points in the win.