The first round games of the region tournament were decided Tuesday and Madison County will take on Salem in the Region 8-AAAA quarterfinals at Winder-Barrow this evening (Thursday) at 7 p.m.
Madison County, the top seed in 8-AAAA north, now faces Salem, the south fourth seed, after the Seminoles defeated Flowery Branch in the play-in game Tuesday night.
For Madison County to have a shot at advancing past region, the Red Raiders will have to defeat the 2-6, 10-14 Salem Seminoles. But while a trip to the playoffs is not out of reach for the Red Raiders, coach Stephen Crouse prefers to stay focused on what is right ahead – a shot at winning the region title, after grabbing a back-to-back sub-region championship.
“We ended up beating both Clarke and Apalachee, which us put us in first place in the sub-region going into the region tournament,” said Crouse. “I am not sure the last time the boys program was back to back sub-region champions.”
“We are focused on Salem,” he said. “I would like for us to take care of business on Thursday, get into the state tournament and have a quick turn around and play the winner of Cedar Shoals and Habersham to have a chance to advance.”
Salem has quick guards and like to take advantage of that speed, capitalizing on turnovers and getting up and down the court while maintaining pressure on three-quarters of the court.
According to Crouse, Madison County’s best plan on defeating Salem should be effective as it is simple - control the ball.
“We just have to take care of the ball,” he said. “We get in there and keep pressure on the boards and get the rebounds, while boxing out to make sure they don’t get a lot of easy baskets because of turnovers.”
While all the teams are playing well, according to Crouse, the favored team is Rockdale. The undefeated top seed from 8-AAAA South takes on Loganville Thursday night and Rockdale is expected to win to advance and play for the region title on Saturday. Winder-Barrow hosts the region tourney, with semi-finals on Friday and finals Saturday.
With the region tournament already underway, Madison County didn’t have much time to celebrate it’s second sub-region championship, a feat that Crouse said hasn’t happened in a long time.
Madison County ended the regular season, first with a loss to Habersham Central last Tuesday, but then with two huge victories over Clarke Central and Apalachee Friday and Saturday.
For more see the print edition of The Madison County Journal. 
