High Hopes Accompany Dodger Boys In State Hoops

The boys basketball team entered the 2010-11 season with high expectations which now take on added urgency as the Dodgers look to make a run in the North II, Group 2 State Tournament.

Madison (15-6), seeded second in its bracket, will open its quest for a state title hosting 15th-seed Fort Lee High (7-14) in a first-round game on Monday at 7 p.m. in Madison.

The Dodgers, led by head coach Bill Librera, finished the regular season with back-to-back wins over Morristown and crosstown rival Chatham, averaging more than 64 points in those two games, five points better than their season average.

Senior Jake Meister, who led the Dodgers in scoring (15.2 ppg) and rebounds (5.4) this season, will need to continue his impressive play if Madison plans on making a run in state play.

But Meister isn’t the only Dodger that Fort Lee will have to gameplan for as fellow seniors Aaron Fant and Mike Haughey, along with junior Matt Gilbert, all have the ability to take over a game.

“What we’re trying to really do is make sure to play a good team brand of offensive basketball,” Librera explained last week, “and make sure that the ball is warm, rotate it and hit all sides and just go from there. If we do all that and push the ball in transition, I think we should have a good chance to win."

Fant, Madison’s four-year starting point guard, finished his senior campaign ranking first on the team in assists per game (4.2) and steals (2.4), while netting just over 10 points and four rebounds per game, both good enough for second overall.

The captain is ready to help the Dodgers on a state tournament run, something the  the high school hasn’t witnessed in a few years.

“We’ve got to make a run,” Fant said. “For the seniors, it’s the last time for us to make a run with Madison basketball. We haven’t made a run in states in a while actually, so it would be nice to do.”

Fort Lee will have its hands full with Haughey and Gilbert, who shot better than 50% from the field while combining to average 18 ppg.

On the other end of the court, it will be a lot of the same for the visiting Bridgemen as Madison’s starting senior forward Matt McHale anchors a defense that will work to hold Fort Lee under its season average of 50 points per game.

Defensively, Madison has been impressive throughout much of the season, holding opposing teams to just 47 points per contest.

“They’re not as good as they’ve been in the past, they have a big kid and some guards and they do a couple of things defensively,” said Librera of Fort Lee. “We’re going to try and give them different defensive looks, we’re going to try to make sure that the ball is warm by moving it around, I think no matter what they do to us defensively, we should be able to counter it with our ability.”

This Madison team doesn’t end with its starting five, though, as seniors Ed McAndrew and Martin Horn, along with sophomore’s Justin Goodwin and Scott Jouan, provide the Dodgers with depth off the bench.

But Fant and his teammates are aware of what’s at stake, and what opposing teams will try to do to keep them from ending their season on a high note.

“I’m sure they’re going to try and pressure us because a lot of teams in our section are going to want to press us and make us turn the ball over,” Fant explained. “We’re going to have to take care of the ball, and keep hitting shots.”

Starting Monday night, all the Dodgers need to do is execute.