MADISON — Coming back from a double digit deficit once in a basketball game is hard enough. Do it twice, and you’re into next level stuff.
That’s what the Monmouth Academy girls basketball team did Tuesday night in Madison. The Mustangs trailed by 11 points twice, including the start of the fourth quarter. Monmouth rallied though, and while the Mustangs led for just over two minutes in the game, they earned the 56-54 win.
“We’re very experienced, even though we have no seniors in the team,” Monmouth coach Scott Wing said. “They’ve been in a lot of tough games.”
Monmouth took the lead on Abbey Allen’s putback of her own miss with eight seconds to play. After a timeout, Madison’s final chance ended with a Maddie Amero steal at the buzzer.
Allen’s winning shot came after she tied the game at 54 with a layup with 31 seconds left.
“I just knew I had to make it. It’s a layup,” said Allen, who led Monmouth with 14 points.
Madison led 50-39 entering the fourth quarter. In the first quarter, Madison also led by 11 points, before Monmouth rallied. The teams traded the lead throughout the second quarter before entering the half tied at 33-33. Sydney LeBlanc’s basket with 14 seconds left in the third gave the Bulldogs (8-3) their second 11-point lead of the game.
Monmouth (10-2) scored the first eight points of the fourth, by working the ball inside, getting high percentage shots, and making free throws.
“We just knew we had to get the ball inside, get it going to the basket,” Wing said. “When we shot and missed outside shots, they were off to the races.”
With four minutes to play, Madison pushed its lead back to seven, 54-47.
“We stopped them and made a few baskets, and I thought we were going to be in good shape. It just didn’t happen,” Madison coach Al Veneziano said.
A Tia Day 3-pointer cut Madison’s lead to 54-50, and a pair of Abby Ferland free throws pulled the Mustangs within two points with 2:42 to play.
“I thought we played hard. I thought they did a good job getting the ball inside and taking advantage of some foul trouble we had.”
LeBlanc led Madison with 19 points, while Madeline Wood added 12. Kaeti Butterfield scored 11 points for Monmouth.
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