It’s still very early, but opponents might have to devise another defensive game plan for Madison County.
As most foes did last year, Brookwood attempted to clog up the middle to limit Courtney and Kayla Freeman Saturday.
And the Lady Broncos ended up paying the price.
With the outside shot open, Madison County drilled six three-pointers — five coming from Lauren Smith — in a 66-34 win in its opener.
“I can remember last year, teams would pack in and we’d be in for a dog fight … Then, all of a sudden (on Saturday) ‘Tydra (Arnold) hits a three and Lauren hit some three’s and they’ve got to get out of it and it’s all over,” coach Dan Lampe said. “If we can get some consistent three-point shooting, it would be nice.”
Lampe said Brookwood had clearly scouted Madison County’s film from last year when teams, like GAC, played a sagging man-to-man or a 2-3 zone, largely ignoring the Lady Raiders’ outside shots.
But when the Lady Broncos tried it Saturday, Smith burned them for a game-high 19 points, hitting four three-pointers in a row in one stretch, as Madison County pulled away for a 32-point win on the road.
“Everybody’s been playing us that way … It was nice to see when they went into that sagging thing and we just shot the lights out,” Lampe said.
Madison County controlled the first quarter, but only found itself ahead 26-16 at halftime.
That was partly due to Kayla Freeman, Lauren Smith and Juvonna Fleming sitting out for much of the second quarter in foul trouble.
But the Lady Raiders reinserted their starters and reasserted its authority in the third quarter, stretching their lead out to 26 points.
The Lady Raiders, who outscored Brookwood 24-8 in the third, allowed just seven field goals all night.
Offensively, Courtney Freeman added 18 points while Kayla Freeman had 10. Haley Peeples and Shantrydra Arnold both scored six points.
Courtney Freeman had six offensive rebounds and 14 boards overall.
“She was huge on the boards,” Lampe said.
Madison Co. 66, Brookwood 34
Score-by-quarter
MCHS 19 7 24 16 — 66
BHS 5 11 8 10 — 34
Leading scorers: Smith 19, C. Freeman 18, K. Freeman 10, Arnold 6, Peeples 6
