01-18-14
BY JACK BULLOCK
MOUNDS – On Saturday night in the finale of the annual Mounds Meridian Martin Luther King Shootout, the charity stripe for the Madison Trojans was far from generous.

Coach Jaime Cotto-Rodriguez saw his Trojans squander a late fourth quarter lead by failing at the foul line.

With the door left open, the host Meridian Bobcats walked right in and took control of the situation.

With reserve sharp shooter 5-foot-11 junior Conner Schaal stepping off the pine to nail four fourth quarter 3-pointers and 6-foot-1 senior starter Michael Schoffner coming up big on the defensive end of the floor, Meridian rallied for a thrilling 76-71 overtime victory in a battle of state-ranked and ABV top ten clubs.

“We were up eight points and #21 (Schaal) got hot. We knew he had “crazy range” and we lost him on that out-of-bounds play. They set a screen for him and it is a really nice play,” said Coach Cotto-Rodriguez. “Then at the end we just missed free throws. And they made theirs. They made crucial free throws and we missed crucial free throws.”

Coach Jeff Mandrell saw his club come-from-behind to take the win and improve to 15-1 on the season while the Trojans slipped to 9-4 on the year.

The figures simply don’t lie, Madison was woeful from the foul line as they managed to make just 8-of-23 attempts.

Seven of those missed FT’s came in the fourth quarter as the Trojans failed to protect a hard-earned lead.

In contrast Meridian, who has had its share of free throw issues in the past, came up with big conversions from the same 15-foot line as the Bobcats finished 16-of-21 from the stripe.

The game’s Most Valuable Player Justin Prewitt topped Meridian with 22-points while David Davis added 18.

Schaal finished with 14-points, all in the second half.

However it was on the defensive end of the floor that got Meridian the victory in the final quarter.

Schoffner came up big inside, rejecting a pair of shots in the lane late and the Bobcats came up with some big rebounds, especially when the Trojans were laying bricks from the foul line.

“He’s a shooter and he has that confidence,” said Coach Mandrell about Schaal. “Sometimes he shoots too much but I would rather have him aggressive and make mistakes than to be afraid to shoot. “Some of his defensive play (Schoffner) and rebounds are similar to Marland and Jerry (Johnson) who played here before. He is a quiet kid and plays hard. When he can stay on the floor we are a much better team.”

“These guys (Meridian) are so quick and #20 (Schoffner) can really get up,” said Cotto-Rodriguez. “I couldn’t believe it when he blocked Starnes twice. They are quick and we are quick, too. They are quicker and we are a bit better inside.”

Trailing 62-54 with 2:11 remaining, Meridian put together a late surge to get the game to overtime.

Schaal dialed long distance three times in the final two minutes and Davis made two unlikely free throws with :04.4 left in regulation.

The 5-foot-11 junior Davis, who is a 53 percent foul shooter for the season, converted the two biggest free throws of the game to even the score at 65-all.

“I’m sitting there next to Mitch Haskins (Meridian’s Athletic Director) and he says ‘you just fouled our worst free throw shooter’ and the kid makes both free throws,’” said Coach Cotto-Rodriguez. “It is just the way the ball bounces sometimes.”

But there was more drama that immediately followed.

Madison’s Tyvon Powers grabbed the ball out of the net and inbounded the ball the length of the court in finding a streaking Dayman Warren who caught the ball in stride and was fouled on a lay up attempt by Meridian’s D.J. Weldon with :03.7 left. It was Weldon’s fifth foul and the victory was there for the taking for the Trojans

However with the game on the line, Warren rattled out a pair of free throws.

Schoffner got the rebound of the second throw and found Davis who headed to the basket.

His off-balanced shot missed the mark but the Bobcats headed into the extra session with momentum on their side.

Meridian broke the game’s final tie with Davis hitting a 3-pointer from the top of the circle to give the Bobcats a 72-69 lead with 1:45 left.

Schoffner and Davis slammed the door shut with four consecutive free throws in the final :43.8.

In a contest that featured 141 total field goal attempts and 82 total rebounds, those free throws missed turned out to be the difference.

Madison was led by 6-foot-6 senior Deontay Starnes with 18-points. However this power forward could have padded his offensive numbers had he converted from the foul line.

Starnes led the led the “all-Mason” Trojans with a 0-of-7 performance.

Darrien Crawford chipped in 17-points while Powers added 12.

Warren finished with 10-points in a game in which the Trojans had the game in hand before the final quarter.

Coach Cotto-Rodriguez saw his club begin the game strong, jumping out to a 22-16 lead at the end of the opening stanza.

Crawford scored seven of his points in the opening quarter and Powers added five.

Meridian used a 20-11 second quarter to take back the lead at intermission.

Prewitt scored 13 of his points in the first half and he opened and closed an 11-0 run to give the Bobcats a 27-24 lead with 3:17 to go until halftime.

Weldon finished with five points in the game, all of which came in the second quarter.

His conventional three-point play while being fouled by Terrance Glover was part of the scoring spree.

Weldon, Schoffner and Khori Powell scored three consecutive baskets in the final 1:32 to give Meridian a 36-33 lead at the end of two quarters.

Six lead changes highlighted the third quarter.

Warren and Crawford both hit 3-point shots in the frame and when Starnes grabbed a big rebound for a bucket, Madison had the lead back at 47-46 with 1:52 left.

Starnes, Crawford and Glover all scored points in the early stages of the final frame, making Madison appear to be headed for a big road win.

Warren’s steal and coast-to-coast lay in gave Madison an eight-point advantage.

Nevertheless, Madison lost Schaal two more times in offensive sets and the junior guard nailed two more treys.

His second “splash down” from the left corner cut the Madison lead to 63-62 with :50 remaining.

The Trojans could have ended the suspense had they closed out the game strong from the foul line.

Starnes missed two more free throws and the previously mentioned misfires from Warren led the clubs to overtime.

Meridian closed the deal and picked up a key non-conference triumph by outscoring Madison 11-6 in the OT.

The rest of the numbers were fairly even.

Meridian finished 26-of-69 overall (37.6 percent) and were just 6-of-22 from 3-point land in the game.

However Schaal was 4-of-7 from 19’9”.

For the Trojans they ended up 29-of-72 from the field (40.2 percent) and just 5-of-19 from the 3-point distance.

Ironically, with all of these missed shots, the two teams were equal in the rebounding department.

Each club finished with 41-boards.

Meridian had 30 defensive and 11 offensive while Madison was 25 and 16 in those categories.

“I was a little worried in the overtime without Weldon in there (who had fouled out) but we have eight or nine kids that can step up,” said Coach Mandrell. “There were times that they (Madison) could have put it away but they didn’t. There were a lot of missed shots and with teams like this there are going to be missed shots and missed dunks that would drive you crazy. It was a hard fought game in it is two quick teams. If you make a mistake and throw it away, the other team is going to score.”

Both teams have bright futures and both could end up playing again in March at Carver Arena.

Madison heads back to their brutal gauntlet of games on the road, heading to Hardin Calhoun, Alton Marquette and Waterloo Gibault Catholic in their next three games. Two shootouts at Pinckneyville and Teutopolis also are on the docket.

The Bobcats are entered in the always-tough Massac County Superman Classic next week in Metropolis.

“This is a nice shootout and I hope they invite us back. It seems like any time Mounds Meridian and Madison go at it, it is going to be a good ballgame,” added Coach Cotto-Rodriguez. “I hope that this is a preview of the state semifinals. I would be great to play them again but to chase them on a college court would be very challenging.”

Century improved to 8-8 on the season with the victory.

Elverado (2-14) was led by 18-points from Tyler Funk in the loss.