Sunday, March 14, 2010
Dodgers' 21-win season has young team thinking big in 2010-11.
The Madison High School boys basketball team got its first taste of the "contender" label during the 2009-10 season. They expect that label to stick heading in to next year. After a stunningly successful campaign keyed by a junior-dominated lineup, the Dodgers will use this offseason to dream of future glory. And they'll return to the court in November with suddenly-great expectations for a worthy follow up to this year's 21-4 record. "We're definitely proud of our season," said head coach Bill Librera. "But we feel like we have more work to do." The Dodgers won the inaugural Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference-Independence Division championship (Madison finished 11-1, one game ahead of Hanover Park), a holiday tournament title, and the …
Friday, March 5, 2010
Meister's 16 not enough for Madison, which finishes season 21-4.
MADISON – The momentum had shifted back to Madison. Aaron Fant had just stepped into a passing lane, completing the steal and a perfect layup to pull the Dodgers within 40-37 with four minutes to play. Everything was set up for a frantic finish in front of a pumped-up crowd. But it never materialized. Newark Tech freshman Jared Hall–who had missed his first 10 3-point attempts–finally connected from long range on the Terriers' next possession. The Dodgers would never get closer, and eighth-seeded Newark Tech eliminated top-seeded Madison, 50-41, Thursday night in the NJSIAA North 2, Group II quarterfinals at Madison High School. "We got it within three, and then they went on another little run," said Madison coach Bill Librera. "That gave …
40.769396
-74.407068
Madison High School
170 Ridgedale Ave, Madison, NJ
/articles/dodgers-boys-hoops-stellar-season-state-run-come-to-end
60565
/locations/301387
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
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 …
40.769396
-74.407068
Madison High School
170 Ridgedale Ave, Madison, NJ
/articles/madison-boys-basketball-glides-past-parsippany
60565
/locations/299911
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Haughey's layup with 10 seconds left clinches Dodgers' 20th win in regular-season finale.
MADISON -- All season long, the Madison boys basketball team has had someone different step up at the right moment. So it was fitting that the Dodgers needed a key play in the final minute to clinch victory in their regular-season finale. With Madison leading by two points with 17 seconds left and inbounding the ball under their own basket, Mike Haughey broke free and ran uncovered across midcourt. Inbounder Matt McHale threw a perfect pass, Haughey caught it, and easily laid it in. That clinched the Dodgers' 44-40 win Saturday afternoon at Madison High School. Madison's victory was a callback to the Dodgers' early-season stretch of eight wins in a row by eight points or fewer. But this one - on Senior Day, clinching Madison's 20th win …
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Colonials dominate second half to hand Dodgers their third loss of the season.
MORRISTOWN – Madison High School boys basketball coach Bill Librera is using the final week of the regular season to prepare his team for the state playoffs. But against a talented and athletic Morristown team Tuesday night, the Dodgers weren't tested. They were, in their words, embarrassed. The Colonials used a 20-1 third-quarter run, part of a larger 40-10 run, to hand Madison their third loss of the season, 61-42, at Morristown High School. "They took it to us," Librera said. "We didn't respond well." "We didn't come out tough enough," said senior Robbie Savacool, who led Madison in scoring with 11. "We didn't do what coach asked us to do." Over the final two and a half quarters, Madison (19-3) had no answer for Morristown on either …
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Fant, McHale help Dodgers avenge county tournament loss to rival Cougars.
CHATHAM – Seven minutes into the fourth overtime, Aaron Fant had finally had enough. Madison's junior point guard had watched rival Chatham steal a 37-35 win over the Dodgers Saturday in the Morris County Tournament. Wednesday night, as Madison clawed back from deficits at the end of regulation and three overtime periods, Fant realized that it was his time. "We were a little out of control," Fant said. "I had to slow it down, that's my job as a point guard. And sometimes I have to look for my own shot." Fant's turnaround seven-footer with 32 seconds to play gave the Dodgers the lead for good, and Madison outlasted its next-door rival in quadruple overtime, 70-67, at Chatham High School. The point guard finished with 16 points, 9 rebounds …
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Chatham stuns third-seeded Dodgers in MCT boys basketball, 37-35, on free throws with 5.5 seconds to play.
RANDOLPH – Last year's run to the Morris County Tournament final, with a team dominated by underclassmen, gave the Madison High School boys basketball team a reason to dream of a repeat trip to the County College of Morris. Saturday, the Dodgers' were rudely awoken from that dream by the sound of a basketball hitting an iron rim. Chris Conroy hit two free throws with 5.5 seconds left, and Aaron Fant's potential buzzer-beating 3-pointer hit the back of the rim to give Chatham a stunning 37-35 win over Madison in the quarterfinals of the Morris County Tournament. "I told them that nothing I could say would take away the pain," Librera said. "When you shoot poorly, when you play poorly, you run the risk of losing the game. And that happened …
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
17-1 Hanover Park stuns Madison boys basketball team on layup with 2.4 seconds remaining.
EAST HANOVER – The Madison boys basketball team was three seconds away from possibly their greatest escape, in a season of great escapes. They trailed by 12 in front of a raucous, amped-up partisan Hanover Park crowd in an overheated, tense, cramped gymnasium. But the Dodgers had come back to take the lead in the waning minutes. The implications of that comeback were great: the Dodgers were three seconds away from wrapping up the inaugural Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference-Independence Division title and continuing their magical unbeaten run. But on this night, in this game, unlike the previous 17, it was not meant to be. Chris Seery's layup with 2.4 seconds remaining lifted Hanover Park into a tie atop the Independence Division with a …
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Dodgers advance to quarterfinals behind defense, 11 points each from Savacool and Meister.
Last year, the Madison High School boys basketball team advanced to the Morris County Tournament final as the 10th seed, taking advantage of several upsets throughout the bracket. With many of the key players from that run back, the Dodgers know not to take any tournament game for granted. Third-seeded Madison jumped out to an early lead and never looked back, defeating Morris Hills, 44-29, in the first round of the 2010 Morris County Tournament Saturday at Madison High School. The Dodgers remained unbeaten and advanced to play sixth-seeded Chatham next Saturday at Randolph High School, at a time to be determined. "There's a little more pressure in a tournament game," said senior forward Robbie Savacool. "If we would've lost, everything …
40.769396
-74.407068
Madison High School
170 Ridgedale Ave, Madison, NJ
/articles/madison-boys-hoops-locks-down-morris-hills-in-county-tournament-2
60565
/locations/269601
Friday, February 5, 2010
Dodgers blitz Morris Catholic behind 3-point barrage.
DENVILLE – The Madison High School boys basketball team had won its last three games in relatively comfortable fashion, but not because the Dodgers were shooting the ball particularly well. The unbeaten squad was a combined 6-for-38 from 3-point range, dating back to the Jan. 26 win at Mountain Lakes. Thursday night, Madison broke out of that slump in a big way, hitting nine of 16 3-pointers and cruising to a 73-49 win at NJAC-Independence rival Morris Catholic. Four Dodgers scored in double figures, led by Jake Meister's 17. The junior guard also led Madison with eight rebounds. Matt Gilbert and Robbie Savacool added 16 points apiece. "We had some great ball movement, and we just got hot," Savacool said. "The shots were dropping for us, …
Mary Ellen Hughes
8:58 pm on Sunday, February 28, 2010
Great to have been able to follow the BB team through out their season.. more ›