They’ve been here before. A year ago, Madison County came into the Group Division 1 semifinals with an undefeated record. They left the Siegel Center in Richmond with their only loss of the season. It’s been a long wait.
“We’re tired of waiting,” Mountaineer coach Ben Breeden put it simply.
Since then, that loss has weighed heavy on their minds, but this year, the team came in with a level of experience that they did not have last season and they did everything in their power to make sure they’d be ready for the home stretch.
In fact, the Mountaineers, with the bulk of their roster back for their senior seasons, tried to put together a schedule that would have them playoff tough. Madison took care of business against Group AA heavyweights like Handley and Charlottesville. And were it not for one of the many weekend winter storms, the Mountaineers would have gotten a serious test in an exhibition game against VISAA Division 1 runnerup Blue Ridge.
It sure looks like that has worked. With the exception of an off-game against George Mason in the Bull Run District finals, Madison has been having their way against playoff opponents, winning their last four contests by a staggering 122 points.
But this game, in many ways, is as big as the potential title game that the Mountaineers crave. Madison looked like they were in great shape in their semifinal contest against Dan River, a team they beat for the Region B titile. But a brutal fourth quarter pulled the rug out from under the team’s feet and they made the trek back to Madison heartbroken.
And since then, it’s been all about business for this team. After 24 straight wins, the Mountaineers are right back where they were one season ago, and they’re eager to take the court in Richmond.
“You can tell that our guys are ready to battle,” Breeden said. “You could see it on the court during practice. They’re ready to get back out there.”
Madison held its last practice on its home court on Wednesday and Breeden made note of the focus and self-awareness that his players had — this team knows the clock is winding down.
“These last couple days they’ve come to realize that this it is, this is what they’ve been waiting for,” Breeden said. “I think today going through the last practice in our gym, it hit them all. They’re excited and have a vision of how they want to play. I think they’re ready.”
The Mountaineers will square off against Castlewood, a team that has a small winning streak of its own with 11 straight victories. To get to the semifinals, the Blue Devils got past Galax, defending a last second shot from the Maroon Tide to pick up the two point victory.
Madison knows what they want to do coming in, particularly with three of its seniors, Logan Terrell, Jerel Carter and Matt Garr.
“We’ve been able to do some scouting on them,” Breeden said. “We’ve got a lot of good information on their personel and these last two days we’ve been working on our defensive assignments, especially with Logan, Jerel and Matt.”
If there’s one team left in the Group A Division 1 final four that shouldn’t be rattled by the atmosphere, it’s this bunch. And just like they have against all their opponents, expect Madison to slam its foot on the accelerator from the opening tipoff, and don’t expect them to take their foot off until the final buzzer sounds.
The semifinal match begins at 1 p.m.
