Bulldogs On the Road to Begin Region 3A Tournament: Game Preview – Madison vs West Central
The Madison Bulldogs (8-12 overall, 3-3 Region 3A) enter the Region 3A Tournament as the No. 5 seed so they will travel to the No. 4 seed West Central to face the Trojans.
West Central
The Trojans (11-9 overall, 5-2 Region 3A) have caught their rhythm heading into the playoffs. This group began the year 4-6 overall and has gone 7-3 in their last 10 games, including a road win over Madison. They have a lot of depth on their team if needed, but mainly rotate eight guys on a consistent basis.
When these two teams matched up on Feb. 9 the Trojans came out on top of the Bulldogs 61-56 in Madison. The Bulldogs had a halftime lead of 31-27, but had a single digit third quarter and allowed the Trojans to crawl back. West Central outscored Madison 34-25 in the second half on 12-for-16 (75%) from the field and 5-for-7 (71.4%) from deep.
West Central is a sharp shooting team and one of their best marksmen is a freshman guard named Connor Morbius. He hung 27 points on the Trojans in their first matchup and was 8-for-11 (72.7%) from the field and 6-for-9 (66.7%) from beyond the arc.
Jacob Sittig is the head coach of the Trojans. He is in his 7th season and posts an 84-71 overall record, going 30-18 in Region 3A. His team averages 58.5 points per game and allows opponents just 50.1 a game.
Madison
Madison comes into this game sputtering in their last 10 games, going just 3-7 over that span. All but one of those losses were winnable games for the Bulldogs. Though this team has struggled to consistently put together a full four quarters of Bulldog basketball. Allowing other teams to dictate what they do and mount comeback after comeback to put them away.
The flashes have been there on both sides of the ball showing Madison’s potential. Though you need more than potential in the playoffs. This team has to become who they should’ve been all along if they want their season to continue and be playing more basketball on Thursday. To put themselves in position to play to go to the So Dak 16.
Last time these teams collided, Ben Brooks led the way in scoring with 25 points on 8-for-16 (50%) from the field and 5-for-8 (62.5%) from three. They’ll need another strong effort from him and the rest of the crew to send the Trojans packing. Along with getting things done on defense, that’s where it has to start to set the tone. All night long staying sharp on defense and on the attack offensively.
Tipoff is set for 7pm tonight in Hartford, SD with the pregame beginning at 6:50pm on AM 1390 and AmazingMadison.com
