In a March 3 Virginia High School League Class 6 boys state-tournament first-round game at South County High School, the 6D North Region tourney runner-up Madison Warhawks lost to the defending state champion Hayfield Hawks, 65-55.
Madison ended the season with a 19-9 overall record.
The Warhawks never led, but rallied multiple times to stay close and tied the score at 7, then later at 21 in the first half.
With the game knotted at 21 in the second quarter with 1:49 left in the first half, Hayfield responded with a 10-0 run by causing and converting on numerous Madison turnovers to lead 31-21 at halftime.
The closest the Warhawks got in the second half was within six points.
Madison coach Kevin Roller said the best chance for Madison to stay close was to control a slower tempo, shoot well, avoid turnovers and play a strong zone defense. The Warhawks did control the tempo to some degree, but they didn’t avoid turnovers that were converted into many Hayfield points.
“The way Hayfield plays it can happen in a blink of an eye when they get turnovers and score a bunch of points,” Roller said. “That’s what they do. In about an 80-second stretch they scored 10 points [to lead 31-21]. Other than that, we were right there, maybe outscored them by one.”
Miles Franklin led Madison in scoring with 17 points. Wyatt Norton scored 11 and had a handful of rebounds, Joey Chalabi and Sumay Frueh each scored 10 and Jack Kominski scored five playing on a sprained ankle.
Madison had a strong season despite no starters back from last season’s team and having Norton and Kominski miss playing time with injuries this winter.
NOTE: The state tournament berth was Madison’s third in seven seasons, all under Roller.
