That is what it is supposed to look like for Madison County’s boys basketball team.
“We’re all looking to make plays and we’ve got guys who can score,” said Madison County coach Ben Breeden. “We want to make sure we’re not playing selfish and that leads to nights like this where everything clicks and we’re hard to stop and hard to guard.”
In an 84-55 victory over Greensville in the Region 2A East quarterfinals, the Mountaineers looked completely dialed in offensively. In the process, the Mountaineers earned a berth in the Group 2A state quarterfinals at James Madison University March 3.
Gaines Swink poured in 20 points to lead that balanced offensive assault for the Mountaineers while Dre Twyman had 19. Isiah Smith and Kobi Alexander rounded out the bulk of the scoring with 14 points each.
With Greensville trying to push the tempo, Madison matched their energy and handled the ball well in transition. The Mountaineers have proven they can run in other games, but they’ve also taken the air out of the ball sometimes and played a more controlled style with success. Against Greensville, it was essentially off to the races.
“We like when people want to run with us because we know we can out-run them,” said Twyman.
Swink has been a solid threat from outside all season for the Mountaineers, but against Greensville he showed an ability to finish in transition and make plays, getting only a single 3-pointer on the night in that 20-point effort.
“It’s great to see him step up, and the whole team step up actually,” Twyman said. “Him hitting those shots is a big thing.”
Smith continues to be the creator for the Mountaineers, changing the way defenses have to respond with his penetration that can end with a finish or a quick kickout to an open teammate as it did much of the night against Greensville.
“When shots are falling from the perimeter, Isiah has a lot of space,” Breeden said. “He beats his man and Dre and Kobi benefit a lot from his ability to get to the rim and it all comes together.”
The road is likely to get more challenging from here for the Mountaineers, who host Amelia in the Region 2A East semifinals Thursday. But after getting knocked out at the region quarterfinal level last year, this was a bit of retribution for a senior-laden squad.
“We wanted to make a comeback and make a run at states and that’s what we’re going to do,” Twyman said.
The Mountaineers have made runs in the state tournament before, but not quite in a package like this one, a team without a true tall post player that relies on its tenacious fleet of guard types to get rebounds and wreak havoc in the paint while also knocking down shots from outside.
“We don’t have a lot of size, but we have a lot of heart,” Breeden said. “The guys really responded tonight in a big way.”
