Madison’s 6-foot-7 center Nick Paxton corralled the pass from Travis Warren just past half court and before Paxton could even make a move toward the basket, Warren was celebrating. Paxton coasted down the middle of the court for his first dunk of the season, getting a major “monkey off his back” according to the big man.
“He’s been able to throw it down for awhile and this offseason he’s worked really hard, he’s a lot stronger and quicker,” said Madison coach Ben Breeden. “Tonight was kind of a justification for all his hard work.”
It was that kind of night for everyone on the Madison County roster as the Mountaineers put together four full quarters of thrilling transition-fueled basketball en route to a 72-37 thrashing of over-the-mountain rival Page County.
In pregame, the Mountaineers honored the 2010 boys state championship team, complete with former stars like Jerel Carter, Logan Terrell, David Falk and Matt Garr back in the building to help unveil the squad’s official team photo that now hangs in Wetzel Gym. During the four quarters, the current edition of the Mountaineers played like that squad did, running the floor flawlessly in transition and building a 13-5 lead that they never looked back on.
Paxton and Matt Temple’s efforts in the transition game — the two big men ran the floor and created a ton of easy opportunities around the rim — paid off in a big way. Page didn’t have an answer defensively on the fastbreak. Temple was particularly strong, leading Madison with 22 points on the night, many of them coming during the first half on the break. He went 11-for-13 from the field on the night.
“That’s something we work on and stress—I feel like our guards are quick and athletic and I think our bigs, if we run rim to rim, we can beat a lot of bigs down the floor,” Breeden said.
Travis Warren ran the break nearly flawlessly and distributed 11 assists to go with nine points and seven rebounds. His presence clearly had a big impact. In Madison’s 68-55 loss back in early December to Page, Warren wasn’t available.
Patrick Roebuck also had a solid outing with 15 points, six assists and five steals, finishing off several transition buckets on his own. Bobby Ford checked in with 13 points and six rebounds.
Page struggled mightily on offense in addition to the spotty defensive play. Just a single Panther, Pete Monteleone, finished in double figures with 11 points.
