By Aaron Perryman/Scrimmageplaycva.com contributor
HARRISONBURG — Surry County coach Jake Mintz wanted to stop two Madison players in particular Saturday night — two of the same players that coaches have been trying to stop all year when facing the Mountaineers.
“I didn’t want [senior forwards] David Falk and Logan Terrell to tear us up in the paint,” said Mintz, whose team ran a 1-3-1 zone on defense. “That’s what I was going for so I wanted to pack it in [the paint].”
The Cougars (19-6), the Region A runner-up, accomplished half of that task but eventually fell to Madison (24-0) in the Group A Division 1 state quarterfinals 72-58.
Falk — who Madison coach Ben Breeden said was fighting an illness after the game — was limited to four points but Terrell went off for 18 points, 10 of which came in the decisive second quarter when Madison started taking control of the game.
The Bull Run Player of the Year eventually stepped out and, according to him, unknowingly hit a couple threes — a rarity for the Madison big man — in the second quarter as he was starting to heat up.
“I didn’t even know I was behind the three-point line,” Terrell said. “I was just shooting. They were big and long in [the paint] so we had to spread it out. Like coach said, I think we just had some jitterbugs in the beginning and then after the first quarter we shot very well.”
Surry came out with lots of energy and dealt the first blow, giving the hordes of Madison fans in attendance a scare when the Cougars led 15-11 after the first quarter.
“We were keeping the ball out of the inside,” Mintz said. “I think they were forcing it some so they had to come up with a new way to [get inside]. And we were rebounding. The best thing about the first quarter was we were getting all the loose balls. We had heart right from the beginning.”
The Cougars stretched the lead out to nearly 10 points early in the second period, frustrating the Mountaineers with their zone look.
“Early in the game I thought we took their best punch—as far as being physical and [Surry] came out and played great,” Breeden said. “We didn’t take care of the ball.”
But then the shots started falling for Madison. Senior guard Trey Hensley came off the bench and hit two threes to jumpstart the Mountaineers.
“I knew Hensley could fill it up,” Mintz said. “My kids knew when he came off the bench he was coming in to pop threes. Probably should’ve switched to something else but he was on fire for a little bit there.”
Madison chipped away at the lead and eventually took it back and went into the locker room with a 32-25 lead.
In the third quarter, the Mountaineers poured it on and never looked back, eventually pulling away from the pesky Cougars to close the third period with a comfortable 49-33 lead. It seemed as if Madison—which hit seven threes—could not miss, a fact that was not lost on the Surry coaching staff.
“They were on fire,” Mintz said. “One of my assistants said they were 70 percent from the field—he said that in the second half. It’s hard to win a game when a team is shooting 70 percent.”
Madison’s defense improved as well, as it started to play a little bit less aggressively.
“We really responded and didn’t gamble as much on defense in the second half and [senior guard] Jerel Carter stepped up and hit some key shots for us,” Breeden said.
Carter proved to the Cougars that taking away one Mountaineer weapon won’t be enough to beat them. The senior hit two threes and finished with a game-high 19 points. Senior guard Casey Campbell also reached double digits, notching 10 points.
“The post gets it working first,” Carter said. “And then they kick out and then the guards get into it. I would picture it being hard for teams to match up against us because of the way we play but it’s all thanks to the post.”
Next up, Madison faces Region D champion Castlewood at VCU’s Seigel Center Thursday at 1 p.m. in the state semifinal. The Blue Devils, which defeated Region C runner-up Galax in its quarterfinal matchup, posted a 17-4 regular season record.
Madison lost in the semifinal last year to Dan River and is focused on getting over the hump and getting that title this year.
“We’re just trying to get that ring,” Carter said. “It’s a very big thing for us. We’ve wanted it since 6th grade. We’ll do anything to get it.”
