San Antonio Madison put the final touch on an undefeated 26-5A season with an exciting win over a young San Antonio Reagan squad in Overtime tonight. Coppin State signee 2009 Jonathan Landry hit a turnaround baby hook at the buzzer for the win. Madison had to work like crazy to sew this one up as Reagan almost stole it in regulation but missed 4 straight free throws down the stretch to keep the Mavs alive. A three pointer at the buzzer in regulation by 2010 Jamaal Johnson of Madison tied it, and sent it to the extra 5 minutes.Reagan was led by 2011 G 6'2" Trey Demps who had 14 points & 5 rebounds. They are a year away from being really good with 2010 6'6" Ray Chase and 2 other sophs in 6'8" P Darrious Hamilton & 6'4" W Max Yon. They are headed to a first round playoff matchup v Austin Bowie. Tonight they played mainly a 1-3-1 zone, daring Madison to shoot it. Madison was mediocre from beyond the arc going 6 for 25. The top perimeter threat turned out to be 6'5" Freshman Christopher Campbell who is beginning to gain confidence. He finished with 9 points in about 8 minutes as he went 3-5 from three point land for the Mavs.
Props have to go to Madison for their early season accolades. They are a veteran team and even when playing poorly find ways to win at the end. This is what a champion must do, but in my opinion they are not peaking at the right time and need to be very careful heading into the playoffs. They beat a middle of the road MacArthur team by one recently and could easiliy have lost this evening. For them to make a run to State for the third consecutive season they need to refocus.
The 3 point shot is exciting but not always reliable. Jonathan Landry's energy makes this team go. Tonight he had 15 points and 10 boards. However, he had to be frustrated watching guys jack up 3 point shot after s point shot. Get the ball down low to Landry & Steven Baird if you want to get to the Drum in March. My guess is that Coach Valenzuela will tighten up the shot selection as they head into the playoffs.
Depending on tonight's outcome in Austin, Madison will open with Austin Akins, or Austin Bowie. Neither team is a slouch as they are both well coached. Madison definitely has several challenges ahead for sure as they're likely to play Wagner in the 2nd round and then are on a collision course with Stevens in the 3rd round. No patsies for Madison to gain momentum with in this bracket. I expect any one of these games to be a battle.
Mike Byron (Shown below with twin brother Ben) led Churchill to a huge upset of Lee tonight.
I popped into the NEISD double header tonight in San Antonio and caught the last quarter of the San Antonio Churchill v San Antonio Lee game. Churchill was up by 11 but almost blew it with sloppy ballhandling and turnovers at the end. The final was 60-55 and puts Churchill into a three way tie for a playoff spot in District 5A along with MacArthur & Roosevelt.
I popped into the NEISD double header tonight in San Antonio and caught the last quarter of the San Antonio Churchill v San Antonio Lee game. Churchill was up by 11 but almost blew it with sloppy ballhandling and turnovers at the end. The final was 60-55 and puts Churchill into a three way tie for a playoff spot in District 5A along with MacArthur & Roosevelt.Churchill was led by 2010 6'9" Mike Byron with 15, and G Chris Fisher who had 21. Lee standout 2010 Paul Garnica was held to 22, 4.1 below his San Antonio area leading scoring average of 26.1. 2010 Ryan Pierce had 17 for Lee who had already clinched 2nd place in 26-5A.
