Rough Shooting Leads to MCT Exit for Madison

A hot start on Saturday night wasn’t enough to propel the boys basketball team as Delbarton eliminated the Dodgers in the Morris County Tournament quarterfinals at Randolph High Sxchool, 55-44.

The Dodgers will still seek postseason honors later this month when they host Fort Lee in a North Jersey Section 2, Group II state sectional playoff game.

Madison scored off the opening tip on the way to 13-2 run in the first quarter, led by senior guard Mike Haughey’s eight points.

But just as quickly as they manufactured a lead they would see it slip, as the Dodgers went ice cold from the field.

“We came out very well and with a lot of energy, I think that was the biggest thing,” said Haughey, who finished with nine points and three rebounds. “We got up on them and I think we got a little comfortable. Coach has been preaching to us all year that we have to be the toughest team on the court….we weren’t boxing out and we weren’t doing the little things today.”

Madison head coach Bill Librera explained that “the little things” proved to play a very big role in the loss.

“We preached about doing the little things today, and we didn’t,” Librera said. “The little things ended up being the big things. Those little things loom large against a team like this. We’ve got to play well to beat a team of Delbarton’s caliber and we didn’t today.”

With Madison struggling to sink shots for much of the game's final three quarters, the Dodgers appeared to feel the pressure as they deviated from their game plan, making an unusual number of mental errors.

“I thought they were rattling us a little and I thought we just didn’t do a good job of settling down,” Librera said.

“Coach has been trying to get us a lot of touches in practice, warming the ball up so it will fall,” Haughey said. “It went a little cold from the second quarter on and we couldn’t warm it up again. A lot of mental mistakes offensively. It’s unfortunate having to go out like this, but it is what it is."

Even with Madison's offensive struggles, the team trailed by only one point heading into halftime.

But Madison's inability to convert from the field was too much to overcome, as Delbarton surged in front and never allowed the Dodgers to re-take control of the game.

“We did a couple of things nice, we changed some philosophies and got some things in," Librera said, "but I also didn’t think that we hit that big basket ever to kind of really catapult us. We hit a lot of big shots early on and then I think the lid went over the basket.”

Madison was held to a combined 18 points in the second and third quarters, and Delbarton capitalized defensive miscues that led to quality shooting opportunities.

“We didn’t play well enough to win,” senior point guard Aaron Fant explained. “We didn’t play well on defense, we didn’t make a lot of shots and that’s the way to lose a game.”

Fant, who finished the day with 10 points, five assists and five rebounds, said that the team’s lack of execution was a key culprit in this loss, and something that he believes needs to be remedied in practice.

“We tried to execute what coach was telling us, but we didn’t do a good job of it,” he said. “We should take responsibility for this loss because coach did everything in his power to win us this game.”

“We have to pick up the intensity in practice,” he added. “It starts in practice and that’s how it translates into the game. Practice is definitely going to be a lot more intense this week.”