Schools
Madison Boys Dominate Kittatinny in Opener
Dodgers basketball squad gets 15 points from Jake Meister in blowout victory
The Madison boys basketball team dominated the Kittatiny Cougars in their season and home opener. With their 46-24 victory, the Dodgers have immediately shown they mean business this year.
Madison took control early, led by last season's top scorer junior guard Jake Meister's seven first-quarter points. Junior guard Aaron Fant contributed early as well, at one point driving for a lay-up and drawing a foul, making both the shot and the subsequent free throw.
A perfect pass later in the first quarter from Fant to sophomore Matt Gilbert put Madison up 14-5. The Cougars fought back with a quick 3-pointer, but Meister answered with a three of his own. The first quarter ended with Madison leading 17-8.
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The Dodger defense only improved as the game went on, keeping Kittatinny scoreless in the second quarter. Madison was not giving the Cougars any opportunities, holding them to the perimeter and not allowing them many shots. The Dodgers forced their opponents to run out the clock a few times, too.
The half ended with Madison leading 27-8. Meister had 10 points in the half.
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Fant came out strong in the third quarter for Madison, helping the Dodgers keep their lead with inspired defensive play. He contained his opponents well, and forced the Cougars to turn over the ball again with another shot-clock violation.
Mike Haughey and Meister led the scoring in the third quarter with nine combined points. Haughey had four and Meister had five.
The Cougars broke their scoreless streak in the third, but they still gave up more points than they scored, and Madison's lead improved to 41-12 at the end of the third quarter.
The fourth quarter proved to be better for Kittatinny, with the Cougars outscoring the Dodgers 12-5, but it was too little, too late. When the buzzer sounded, Madison had won 46-24.
Meister finished with a total of 15 points, after sitting most of the fourth quarter. Gilbert and Fant had eight points each, and Haughey scored seven.
Meister spoke after the game, stating that winning the first game of the season was, "A good relief… Practice was stressful this week."
He also expressed his desire to improve, hoping to score more this year than he did last.
The Dodgers will go to Parsipanny for their next game, a 7 p.m. contest on Tuesday against the Red Hawks.
