Madison Rams pick up first win of season beating Ashland Arrows in girls basketball
ASHLAND — The Madison High School girls basketball team made 7-of-11 free throws in the fourth quarter and limited their mistakes to earn their initial win of the season in a 41-34 triumph over Ashland in Ohio Cardinal Conference play Saturday in Arrow Arena.
“They have been working hard, I guess we’ve taken a little time to get used to each other, and I think, especially the last couple of weeks in practice, the games haven’t shown, but we have been getting better,” offered Madison coach Mike Leeper, back for a second stint at the helm of the Lady Rams. “Two steps forward, one step back I think, but they played smart today, they played hard, they took advantage of mistakes Ashland made. Ashland is very young, they’re well-coached, and they’re going to be a team to reckon with, there’s no question, this year as well as next year.”
The game was tied at 30-30 when junior Lilly Pool sank a 10-footer in the lane for Ashland (1-3 OCC, 1-6 overall) with 4:45 to play in the fourth quarter.
But Madison (1-2, 1-3) then scored the next eight points on baskets by junior guard Natalee Back and Brynn Kiley, with Back then sinking four consecutive free throws, giving the Lady Rans a 38-30 bulge.
It wasn’t until :40 left in the game before Ashland finally scored on a hoop by sophomore Lauren Green, who later sank a pair of free throws with eight seconds remaining to cut Madison’s lead to 39-34.
“We missed some layups, free throws weren’t there today, turnovers killed us, things weren’t going right for us today,” noted Ashland coach Renee Holt. “We have a lot of young players. I’m playing two freshmen, I think I threw another freshman out there, a sophomore. We saw that win with Lexington but it’s hard to win, especially in this conference. We’ve got to find some energy, get some extra work in, free throws, It’s tough.”
Several Ashland players shined as freshman playmaker Madison Hoffman sank the lone 3 in the game and led the Arrows with nine points. Junior Makaree Chapman pitched in eight points and grabbed nine rebounds. And Green played well off the bench, totaling eight points, six rebounds, and a steal.
“We actually put her on the JVs today because we had a sickness, and I think getting her going, she got in the varsity game, and she stepped it up,” Holt lauded of Green’s play. “I’m proud of her. She got those rebounds, she got those second-chance points, so we’ve just got to keep working.”
Back led Madison with 15 points, followed by 12 from Kiley, and junior forward Chloe Ebeling chalked up six points and a game-high 11 rebounds and a pair of blocked shots.
“Chloe plays hard, she changed a lot of shots in the paint, as well as rebounding, and she’s very calm with the basketball, so Chloe’s been playing really well the last few games,” Leeper praised. “Natalee’s our floor leader, and can be just an excellent leader when she’s talking to her teammates. They listen to her and they do what she says, and she was on her game today.”
Madison made 15 of 41 floor shots (37%) to Ashland’s 13 of 42 (31%) showing. The Rams meshed 13 of 20 free throws (65%) with the Arrows netting 7 of 16 (44%) chances.
“It’s frustrating when we look back at our last few games, really the only loss we should have had was against Norwalk,” Holt said. “We should have 5-6 wins right now. And I think it just comes down to those little things - free throws, layups, just the simple box-outs. It comes with experience but it also comes with getting in the gym and working.”
This article originally appeared on Ashland Times Gazette: Madison picks up first win of season beating Ashland in girls basketball
