Madison Girls Basketball Stands Tall Against Morris Catholic

The Madison Dodgers girls basketball team was defeated on Thursday night at home against the Morris Catholic Crusaders. With their 56-37 loss, the Dodgers are 8-11.

The game was closer than one would suspect by looking at the final score. Halfway through the third quarter, the Dodgers were only trailing by two, 26-24, but in the second half of the quarter the Crusaders went on a 15-4 run. Going into the fourth it was 41-28 Morris Catholic.

"They played with such spirit and fight tonight," said Madison head coach Stephen Finkelstein.

A few of Madison's bench players were missing and they only had seven players available for the game. Morris Catholic had 15 players and were substituting regularly to keep their girls fresh. The Dodgers did not have that option, and by the second half they were clearly fatigued.

"We were tired, but our adrenaline kept us going," said Rachel Misko, who scored five points in the fourth quarter for the Dodgers.

The Dodgers started the game in control, going on a 7-0 run and not allowing the Crusaders to take a clear shot at the beginning. Ali Foulsham hit a three pointer and a two within the first few minutes of the game, and Nikki Caruso was dominating on defense, grabbing a couple of rebounds and stealing the ball once.

"We just wanted to have fun today. We have been in a slump, so it was all about having fun," Foulsham said.

The Crusaders started to turn the game around halfway through the first quarter, scoring nine unanswered points to take the lead going into the second quarter.

Nikki Caruso was the only Dodger to score in all four quarters, totaling 19 in the game. Morris Catholic had a slew of high scorers: Five players had more than 10 points for the Crusaders, with Ashley Bays, who hit four three pointers in the game, leading with 16 points total.

The Dodgers played tough defense throughout the game and rarely let the Crusaders get near the net for a close shot or a layup. Morris Catholic countered by shooting three-pointers for much of the game, and as a team made a total of seven 3-pointers.

"They are a great team. We can't really match their shooting or speed, but we played hard until the last second," said Finkelstein.

Morris Catholic came into the game with a 13-2 and record, but the Dodgers did not let their opponent's prowess keep them out of the game.

"We just try our hardest every game and hope it works out," said Misko.

The Dodger's next game is against Hanover Park at Madison High School on Tuesday at 7 p.m. Hanover Park (11-4) will try to continue the success it had Thursday afternoon against Dover, who they dominated in a 51-10 victory.