Madison Girls Basketball Falls to Morris Catholic

Though the Madison High School girls basketball team showed great heart on the road and held their heads high, they fell to Morris Catholic Crusaders on Thursday 55-31.

The first quarter was fairly even–Morris Catholic was on from the 3-point line, but the Dodgers were in it to win it: Rachel Misko found the hoop twice and had three points on the quarter.  Mackenzie Ellis and Chelsea Davies rounded out the first eight minutes' scoring with a layup and pull-up jumper apiece.  The Dodgers finished the first quarter 12-7 - down five points, but within striking distance.

Morris Catholic came out of the break fired up and brought heavy pressure to Madison to begin to the second quarter, forcing several turnovers.  With 6:39 to go, the Dodgers took a timeout to regroup, as they stared down a 16-7 deficit.  A deep Morris Catholic 3-pointer set the girls back still further, but Rachel Misko found Evan Foulsham down low to keep Madison in the game, down 19-9.

Misko added a layup and Davies sunk a foul shot, but not without thirteen more points being scored against them, and when the girls hit the locker room at half, the scoreboard read 32-12.

To begin the third quarter, Nikki Caruso showed off some poise and her trademark accuracy. She drained two free throws after she was hacked going for a layup, and hit a deep 3-pointer from the right side later in the third quarter, but by that time the game was slipping out of reach at 37-17.  At the end of three, it was 47-22 Crusaders.

The fourth quarter saw Sam Cicconi and Davies score four points, but the rest of the game belonged to Morris Catholic.  In such a tough loss, coach Stephen Finkelstein found positives to take into the team's next game while pointing out the areas where the Dodgers struggled.  He was proud of the team's overall perseverance.

"We didn't handle their 1-3-1 well," coach Finkelstein said of the Crusaders' unorthodox defensive scheme, "we hesitated on jump shots and we only took seven shots in the first quarter and ten in the second.  It was definitely a tough challenge for the girls.  With their back against the wall, they didn't quit."

The girls picked their game up after a timid first half, and Finkelstein hopes to take the late momentum into practice on Friday.

"In the third quarter we played them tougher, and in the fourth we looked much more aggressive: when you're down, you want to leave with something positive.  We have to come into practice tomorrow and prepare to not let this happen Saturday."

The Dodgers take on St. Elizabeth at 12:30 p.m. at home on Saturday, and at 4-3 on the season, they hope to rebound after a hard road loss.

"When we have lost games in the past," Finkelstein explained, "we have bounced back.  That's what we have to do."