Madison girls basketball uses big first quarter to down Ashland
ASHLAND — Some sporting events are harder to analyze than others.
The nuances and momentum changes of the game can make it difficult to determine the whys of the outcome.
But this one was simple.
Madison’s girls basketball team strolled into Ashland Thursday evening and dominated the initial six minutes of action to the tune of an 18-2 advantage en route to a 52-32 win in Ohio Cardinal Conference action at Arrow Arena.
In the process, the Rams defense forced 11 Arrows turnovers, shot 7 of 11 from the field themselves and held an 18-6 lead after just eight minutes.
“That early run looked great,” said Madison coach Brian Davis. “When you know what you are capable of doing and see five girls working in cohesion, that is what you saw happen. Everyone was moving in the right spots.”
The Rams improved to 6-8 overall and 3-5 in the OCC. Ashland fell to 3-12, 1-7.
Despite early deficit, Arrows fight back in second quarter
Over the course of the second quarter, the Arrows methodically cut into the Rams lead, trailing just 20-17 with just over a minute to play.
“We went back to old habits,” said Ashland coach Renee Stimpert. “It’s kind of hard to break those old habits, and we are still growing. We are still young.
“This game was kind of a flashback to Orrville a couple of weeks ago, and this one was very similar as we were down 17-2 in the first quarter. But we came back and won that game.”
Madison tallied the last four points of the half and led 24-17 at intermission.
“Ashland knew what was coming,” said Davis, “and we kind of knew how they would try to break things (press). But our girls were moving and moving on the flight of the ball. And when five girls are working together, good things happen.”
Rams pull away late in third quarter
Ashland pulled to within a single point at 26-25 minutes into the second half, but from there Madison ended the quarter on another impressive 15-3 run to take control.
“We knocked down some big shots and had some girls step in and play well,” said Davis. “We had some foul trouble and talked to them about coming into the game and being ready to play.”
Chloe Ebeling had 11 points, nine rebounds and two blocked shots for the Rams, and Davis was glad to see her back.
“Chloe was out a couple of weeks with the virus, and she was on a good roll for us,” said Davis. “This was really her first week back, and that was good to see. It was a good product out there tonight.”
Faith Kuhn added 10 points, nine rebounds and two steals to help the Rams to a 35-24 rebounding advantage.
Makaree Chapman had 12 points, six rebounds and two steals to pace Ashland. Lilly Pool finished with six points and four rebounds, while Audra McBride had seven boards and three assists.
Stimpert saw some growth in the youthful Arrows during the second quarter and early stages of the second half.
“I saw some girls step up and saw some girls with heart that wanted to win,” she said about the 10-minute stretch. “Makaree was driving down low, and Lilly was taking on their bigs down low. I saw our youngsters step up.”
This article originally appeared on Ashland Times Gazette: Madison parlays big first quarter into win over Ashland
