Madison Boys Basketball Seeded Third In Morris County Tournament

Perfection wasn't enough to earn the Madison High School boys basketball team the No. 1 seed in the 2010 Morris County Tournament. But the Dodgers will settle for a chance to earn the top spot on the court.

Madison (12-0) was seeded third in the 26-team tournament at the coaches' meeting at Parsippany Hills High School Sunday afternoon. The high seed means the Dodgers advance past this weekend's preliminary round of the tournament via a bye. Madison hosts the winner of the Morris Hills-Mount Olive game Feb. 6 at 5 p.m.

"Seeding meetings don't guarantee anything," said Madison head coach Bill Librera. "We're eager to get started and get out on the court."

Last season, of course, the Dodgers were seeded 10th and, after a wild series of events, made a run to the final game before losing to top-seeded Mendham. The Minutemen return as the top seed in 2010 with a chance to become the first school to win the MCT three times in a row.

But Madison plans on making its case to return to the County College of Morris, which will host the final Feb. 27.

"I tend to think that the tournament is always the No. 1 seed's to lose," Librera said. "They were unbelievable last year. But they aren't as dominant as they were last year, I don't think."

Librera called the No. 3 seed "a compliment," saying that the Madison program had something to prove in comparison to traditional Morris County powerhouses like Mendham and second-seeded Delbarton. The Minutemen have defeated three of the tournament's top 10 seeds–Delbarton, Chatham and West Morris–while the Green Wave and Dodgers have each defeated two.

But the Madison coach also said he'd be able to use the No. 3 seed as motivation.

"It's a good rallying cry," Librera said. "We can point to this and say, 'Hey, some people have doubts about us.' But the best thing you can do to settle those doubts is show up on the court."

The Dodgers open tournament play next Saturday, when they will have one of two familiar faces awaiting them. Madison defeated 14th-seeded Morris Hills, 56-45, on Saturday in Madison. The Dodgers also played Mount Olive in a scrimmage in early December.

"There are advantages and disadvantages to playing teams again," Librera said. "They've seen us. We just know that we have to play our best. We know that as we keep piling up wins and stay unbeaten, we're going to have a target on our backs."

Should Madison win their first-round game, they would travel to Randolph High School the following Saturday to play either Chatham, Morristown or Mountain Lakes in the quarterfinal round.

2009 MORRIS COUNTY BOYS BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT PAIRINGS:
Preliminary Round (games to be played by Saturday, Jan. 30)
#17 Whippany Park (6-6) at #16 Pequannock (6-7)
#18 Butler (6-7) at #15 Kinnelon (6-7)
#19 Mount Olive (3-11) at #14 Morris Hills (7-6)
#20 Morris Catholic (4-8) at #13 Randolph (7-5)
#21 Montville (4-9) at #12 Morris Knolls (6-6)
#22 Mountain Lakes (2-8) at #11 Morristown (6-5)
#23 Parsippany (3-11) at #10 West Morris (7-5)
#24 Dover (2-11) at #9 Jefferson (9-3)
#25 Parsippany Hills (1-11) at #8 Roxbury (8-4)

First Round (games to be played by Saturday, Feb. 6)
Pequannock-Whippany Park winner at #1 Mendham (10-2)
Butler-Kinnelon winner at #2 Delbarton (10-3)
Morris Hills-Mount Olive winner at #3 Madison (12-0)
Randolph-Morris Catholic winner at #4 Boonton (12-0)
Morris Knolls-Montville winner at #5 Hanover Park (11-1)
Morristown-Mountain Lakes winner at #6 Chatham (8-5)
West Morris-Parsippany winner at #7 Morristown-Beard (9-3)
Roxbury-Parsippany Hills winner vs. Jefferson-Dover winner

Quarterfinals (Saturday, Feb. 13 at Randolph High School)

Semifinals (Saturday, Feb. 20 at County College of Morris, Randolph)

Final (Saturday, Feb. 27 at County College of Morris, Randolph)