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Sports

Madison Boys Basketball Glides Past Parsippany

Dodgers overcome first-quarter frustrations to advance to North 2, Group II quarterfinals.

MADISON – Last year's Madison High School boys basketball team, fresh off its run to the Morris County final, didn't even make it out of the starting gate in the North 2, Group II state tournament, and lost by a comfortable margin to Orange in the first round.

In Tuesday night's North 2, Group II first-round game, the top-seeded Dodgers found themselves again stuck in neutral early–they trailed 16th-seeded Parsippany, 12-3, midway through the second quarter.

"We didn't come out ready to play," said Madison coach Bill Librera. "We were so excited for the moment, that we didn't execute in the moment."

But there would be no repeat early exit. Junior guard Aaron Fant totaled 16 points, seven rebounds, five steals and three assists to lead the Dodgers (21-3) to a 50-41 win over the Red Hawks at Madison High School.

"It means a lot," Fant said. "Coach was telling us about how this is a season of firsts for us. And we want to make a run, keep going towards a sectional title."

It was the Dodgers' first playoff win in four years, and their third victory of the season over their NJAC-Independence rivals. Madison will face No. 8 seed Newark Tech in the North 2, Group II quarterfinals Thursday night at Madison High School.

The Dodgers used a first half-ending 17-0 run–part of a larger 28-4 run–to take control, then cruised in the second half, leading by as much as 15. The game-changing first-half run was keyed by a prodigious switch to a 2-3 zone, which negated the dribble penetration that carried Parsippany to an early nine-point lead.

"They were doing a good job of getting to the basket," said junior guard Jake Meister. "Once they tried to do that against the zone, we sealed that off from them. They kind of stood around looking for outside shots, which is what we wanted."

Meister (12 points, 7 rebounds) hit a short jumper off an inbounds pass with 5:05 to play in the second quarter. Librera called timeout after the shot, and set up the zone.

"We saw something in scouting them, that they become very mechanical against a zone," said Librera, who won his first state tournament game as Madison head coach. "With a motion offense like theirs, if you can slow them down and make it run a little less fluid, you've already won a little bit for yourself."

Parsippany (8-17) didn't score the rest of the half, turning the ball over six times in the final 5:00. Matt Gilbert's fast break layup off an assist from Fant gave Madison the lead for good, 15-14, with 3:08 to go.

"We started setting harder picks, moving on offense," Fant said. "And we were getting easy layups."

Nothing was easy in the first quarter, when Madison played arguably its worst eight minutes of the season. The Dodgers shot 1-for-14 from the field, including a number of jump shots barely grazing the rim.

In the meantime, Parsippany's motion offense allowed Manny Udoh (20 points in a sparkling effort) to create havoc.

Parsippany–most notably Jabari Jackson, who drove the length of the court untouched for a buzzer-beating layup, giving the Red Hawks a 10-3 lead after one–had little trouble slicing through Madison's defense early.

"We didn't do what we needed to do," Librera said. "Sometimes you have to get hurt to recognize what's hurting you. Once we recognized what they were doing, we did a good job of forcing them out and making them take tough shots."

Before that happened, things went further south for Madison. Fant and Matt McHale each picked up a second personal foul and were forced to the bench early in the second quarter.

Librera gambled and brought them both back with 5:39 to play in the half. But it paid off, and sparked the Dodgers' run.

"Our philsophy is to get to the second half with nobody having three fouls," Librera said. "But I thought it was kind of a crucial part of the game. I trust our kids to make the smart plays, and playing in a zone helped them out a little bit, too."

Parsippany's final first-half points came on a pair of free throws by Udoh at the 5:45 mark, giving the Red Hawks a 14-5 lead.

Once Madison had the lead in hand, they flexed their offensive muscle, extending their lead to as many as 15 late in the third quarter.

An 8-0 run, all layups–three from Fant, one from McHale–gave Madison a 33-18 lead with 2:32 to go.

Madison wrapped it up despite Udoh catching fire and scoring 12 points in the fourth. Parsippany began a full-court press midway through the fourth, and cut the deficit to 39-30, but Madison was able to capitalize with easy layups.

Fant, Robbie Savacool (7 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists) and McHale combined to make seven free throws in the final 1:10 to seal the top-seeded Dodgers' first state tournament win since the 2006 North 2, Group II quarterfinals.


NEWS & NOTES

  • The Dodgers have known since Feb. 18 that they had won a share of the inaugural Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference-Independence Division championship. But Madison (11-1 in conference play) can now claim that title on their own, thanks to a little outside help. Pequannock's 75-66 win over Hanover Park last Saturday dropped the Hornets to 10-2 and into second place, leaving Madison with the outright division championship.
  • Fant and Meister were named to the All-NJAC Independence Division First Team at the conclusion of the regular season. Three other Dodgers were also honored: McHale on Second Team, and Gilbert and Savacool as Honorable Mention. More honors could come at the All-Morris County selection meeting, which will take place March 14.
  • Madison High School honored the Group II champion Dodger field hockey team at halftime Tuesday night. Each member of the team and coaching staff were awarded championship rings.


NEXT UP
No. 1 seeded Madison will continue its state tournament journey Thursday night at 7 p.m. at Madison High School. Their opponent will be No. 8 Newark Tech (14-10), who upended ninth-seeded Bernards, 54-37, Tuesday night. In that game, Newark Tech led at halftime, 17-13, before outscoring Bernards, 20-4, in the third quarter.

Elsewhere in the North 2, Group II bracket: second-seeded Hanover Park fell to No. 15 Newark Science, 51-39 and No. 7 Chatham upended No. 10 Lincoln-Jersey City, 49-48. Other winners included sixth-seeded Caldwell, No. 14 Fort Lee and No. 4 Lodi.

SCORING SUMMARY
[16] Parsippany   10   4    6  21  -  41
[1] Madison          3  19  11  17  -  50

INDIVIDUAL SCORING
PAR- Manny Udoh 20, Mike Ross 9, Andrew Matti 6, Jabari Jackson 4, Peter Gonzalez 2
MAD- Aaron Fant 16, Jake Meister 12, Robbie Savacool 7, Mike Haughey 6, Matt Gilbert 5, Matt McHale 4

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