MADISON @ TEUTOPOLIS
02-21-03
BY JACK BULLOCK
TEUTOPOLIS - For the Madison Trojans, the moniker of number one has become a heavy burden.

However the 22-3 Green and White clad warriors of the hardwood survived by far their closest Class A game of the season in front of a sold out crowd at Teutopolis.

With Rickey Salmond and Rico Newsome providing the late game heroics from the foul line, Madison held off the Wooden Shoes' late rally to win 76-74.

Salmond and Newsome combined to make all eight of the Trojans foul attempts in the last :53 seconds of the game.

"We didn't win close games like that last season," said Madison head coach Al Collins. "We lost at the sectional by letting a good team back into the game. But tonight we had enough to hold them (Teutopolis) off. Rickey and Rico came up big for us, and we need to be able to win these kinds of games if we are going to reach our ultimate goal. This is a tough place to win at against a great program."

Teutopolis (22-6) got off to a fast start on senior night with Derek Hoene doing the early scoring.

The 6-0 senior scored the Wooden Shoes first seven points.

His 15-footer with 5:42 left in the quarter gave T-Town its biggest lead of the night at 7-4.

However Madison got back-to-back baskets by Newsome and Salmond to grab a 12-10 lead.

A Brent Webber jump shot from the baseline and a Matt Schumacher driving lay up gave T-Town a brief 14-12 lead.

However the first big run by the Trojans was a beauty, with Salmond helping his team take command.

His rebound basket got the Trojans even at 14.

Then the 5-8 junior hit two free throws to give his club back the lead.

On the next T-town possession, Salmond got his hand on an errant pass, which deflected, to Newsome.

He then found 6-9 junior Robert Kennedy streaking down the court. Kennedy's two-handed slam put the Trojans up 18-14.

After a T-Town miss, Salmond canned a 10-footer just before the buzzer and Madison was rolling with a 20-14 lead.

A 3-point play by Schumacher with 6:09 before halftime cut the Madison lead down to 24-21.

But the Trojans, behind a pair of 3-pointers by Salmond, extended the lead to its biggest of the half at 36-25.

T-Town's Sam Deters and Madison's Perry Adams, a 6-9 junior reserve, traded baskets at the end of the half to make it 38-27.

An Adams rebound basket epitomized the Trojans dominance on the offensive boards.

"They (Madison) had 16 offensive rebounds in this game and we just did a poor job of checking them out." said Teutopolis mentor Ken Crawford. "The are a very quick and athletic team and you can't let them own the glass if you expect to win."

Teutopolis senior Mike Hardiek had a nightmare of a first half going 0-for-7 from the floor with zero points at the half.

However he roared out of the second half and keyed the Wooden Shoes comeback effort.

Madison seemed to have the game in the bag as they rolled up to a 45-31 lead with 4:42 left in the third when Kennedy hit a rebound basket and Newsome canned a 3-pointer on consecutive possessions.

But at this point, Hardiek started 'feeling it' from behind the 3-point arc.

He hit three 'trifectas' in the quarter to help Teutopolis stay within striking distance.

T-Town's Chris Zerrusen closed the quarter on a high note as his 3-point attempt was right on the mark to end the frame at 55-45 Madison.

"I challenged Mike (Hardiek) at halftime to come out and play better in the second half and he responded with a big effort." added Crawford.

Hardiek hit two free throws to open the fourth quarter to cut the Trojans lead to 55-47.

The lead got comfortable for Madison again after a Keith Long rebound basket and another Salmond 3-pointer made the score 60-47 with 6:33 left in the contest.

But at this point of the contest, the Wooden Shoes turned their pressure up a notch and got back into the ball game quickly.

T-Town would score the next eight points, which not only got themselves back within range, but got the capacity crowd into the game.

Hoene scored a pair of baskets in the run while Schumacher and Webber each added a field goal. Three of those hoops came on offensive rebounds as Teutopolis went to the boards with a vengeance.

"We panicked out there for a few minutes and let them back in to the game." added Collins. "We told them at halftime that they (Teutopolis) would make a run at us and that we needed to be ready for it."

Long and Newsome stopped the T-Town run momentarily with a couple of scores.

Newsome's drive to the basket forced a T-Town timeout with 3:20 remaining.

Schumacher scored on another lay in and Hardiek nailed another 3-pointer that brought the Shoes within 64-62 with 2:41 left.

Salmond, after Madison worked some time off the clock, hit a soft jumper in the lane that pushed the lead back up to four points.

Then came a costly T-Town turnover on bad pass, which turned into points as Travonti Walker scored in the paint with 1:12 left to give Madison some breathing room at 68-62.

At this point T-Town was forced to foul and Salmond and Newsome took care of the rest.

Hardiek hit two more 3-pointers in the waning seconds. But his last one was just a 'window dressing' bomb with :02 left that made the final score 76-74.

Both coaches left this game with some satisfaction.

"We played the number one team in the state down to the wire and this will help us get ready for the regional next week," added Crawford, whose team is the top seed and will host the regional starting Monday night.

"This is one of those games that we needed to show the kids that they can get beat if they let good teams hang around." said Collins, who will coach his last regular season game on Saturday before stepping down at the end of the season. "We were fortunate to win tonight but the kids stepped up at the end and did the things that needed to be done to win this game."

Newsome paced four Madison players in double figures with 20 points.

Salmond added 18 while Long and Kennedy added 12 apiece.

Teutopolis' senior scoring duo of Schumacher and Hardiek scored 25 and 23 respectively. Hoene was the only other Wooden Shoe player in double figures with ten.

Madison wraps up its regular season Saturday night at home against Waterloo while Teutopolis will play Wednesday night at home against either Dieterich or Beecher City.