MADISON – It was a clash on paper. It was a rout on the scoreboard.

Led by Mitch Jarvais, Nick Morales and a team of hot shooters, the Madison Area High School boys basketball team turned a showdown of unbeatens into a runaway.

Jarvais scored 21 points, Morales had 19 and Madison rolled to a 71-45 victory over Wiscasset Tuesday night, boosting its unblemished record to 5-0 for the season.

The victory has Madison perched atop both Class C and the Mountain Valley Conference, but coach Jason Furbush was still waiting to see a signature effort from his team, especially after a lackluster 54-45 victory over Telstar Monday.

On Tuesday, he got it.

“(That was the) first time this year we really played a complete game as a team, definitely a complete team effort,” he said. “We won (at Telstar) by nine points, but it was ugly. The great thing about this group is they don’t let things bother them for very long. They knew they played badly last night, and I knew right from our pregame meeting that they had forgotten about it.”

It showed, though Madison got some help from its opponent. The Wolverines (3-1) struggled from the field early, going 3-for-13, and the Bulldogs pounced. Jarvais hit a pair of 3-pointers and Morales carved his way through the lanes for eight, helping Madison jump out to a 14-3 lead and 18-9 advantage after the first quarter.

Wiscasset rediscovered its touch in the second quarter, cutting the gap to 26-23 on an Ethan James jumper, but Jarvais had the answer again. The high-scoring forward stole the ball and was fed for a layup, then hit back-to-back 3-pointers to get the lead up to 34-23 with 1:32 to go in the second quarter.

“He hit a couple there, him and (Evan) Bess both,” Furbush said. “That pulled them out of their zone. Once we pulled them out of the zone, I thought things really turned.”

Up 36-29 at the break, the Bulldogs ended any suspense in the third quarter. Morales had six points and Jarvais had five to help Madison outscore Wiscasset 22-2 in the period, turning the game from contestable into a blowout.

“When you put your back in a corner against a good team, it’s hard,” said coach Dana Lawrence, whose team hit only one of the 11 shots it took in the third. “We came back, got it to within seven at halftime, so we were in the ball game. But then they came back in the third period, and what was it, 22-2? They just took it over.”

The 6-foot-4 Jarvais hit five 3-pointers and was just as effective on the defensive end, holding the 6-6 James, Wiscasset’s top scorer and one of the top offensive players in the class, to eight points.

“I’m happy with the way the guys played and the defense we played tonight especially, we held James to eight points. That’s one of the top scorers in the conference,” Furbush said. “Jarvais did a heck of a job on him tonight.”

Furbush also praised the defensive game for Morales, as the guard was active defending outlet passes and tight with his on-ball matchups.

“Morales had a great game,” he said. “It’s the best I’ve seen him play defense in four years.”

The Bulldogs got contributions from the rest of the lineup, including 12 points from Sean Whalen and nine from Bess, and finished 29-for-63 (46 percent) from the field.

“We shot the ball well tonight,” Furbush said.

Cody Roberts led Wiscasset with 11 points, while Zach Reed added 10.

“They frustrated us with that box-and-one with Ethan, every time he got the ball there were a couple of guys on him,” Lawrence said. “We weren’t cutting to the open areas, so he didn’t have anybody to give the ball to. … Defensively, they had a good gameplan, stuck to it and executed.”

The loss put a loud “one” in the loss column, but Lawrence didn’t sound fazed by the defeat, nor its chances of pulling the Wolverines’ season off course.

“We’ve got stuff to work on,” he said. “We’ll be fine.”

Drew Bonifant — 621-5638

dbonifant@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @dbonifantMTM

Related Stories