Boys basketball: Madison survives Old Orchard Beach charge to stay undefeated

AUGUSTA — There was much that unraveled for the Madison boys basketball team in the second half Wednesday — but in the end, a few of the fundamentals made the difference.

Madison dominated Old Orchard Beach on the boards and made clutch free throws in the closing minutes to claim a 49-42 win in the Capital City Hoop Classic at the Augusta Civic Center. The Bulldogs never trailed in the game, though they did see a 16-point lead whittled down to one in the second half before earning their biggest win yet.

“We didn’t take care of the ball very well at all in the second half, but it obviously helps when you can make your free throws down the stretch like that,” said Madison head coach Jason Furbush. “We got some key rebounds when we needed it. It obviously wasn’t perfect, but we were able to pull it out.”

Nathan Cornforth (13 points, 13 rebounds) and Brode Strout (13 points, four 3-pointers in the first quarter) led the way for Madison, which outrebounded OOB 42-20. Brady Plante had 15 points and six rebounds to lead the Seagulls, who committed just 11 turnovers while forcing the Bulldogs into 27.

The first quarter belonged to Strout, who seemingly couldn’t miss for Madison (4-0) during his early 3-point barrage. The senior hit one triple to help the Bulldogs to a 7-0 lead, then hit three after the Seagulls answered with six straight points as Madison sprinted out to an 18-11 lead through one.

Old Orchard Beach’s Derek Webber, center, has his shot disrupted by Madison defenders Brode Strout, left, and Nathan Cornforth during the Capital City Hoop Classic on Wednesday at the Augusta Civic Center. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

“I was feeling it, definitely,” Stroud said of his early outburst from beyond the arc. “I don’t know what it was, but I got some wide-open shots, and I got into a rhythm. They were all going in.”

Madison stretched its lead in the second quarter as it got three baskets from Cornforth and dominated on the glass. After outrebounding the Seagulls (3-2) 13-9 in the first quarter, the Bulldogs beat them 11-5 on the boards in the second to take a 31-18 advantage into halftime.

Madison stretched the lead to 36-20 early in the second half, but then, OOB made its run. Forcing the Bulldogs into a slew of turnovers, the Seagulls closed out the third quarter on an 11-0 run before scoring the first three points of the fourth to pull within two points.

“We were playing at a pace that we’re not comfortable with — that’s not us,” Furbush said. “We don’t want to play at that pace; we want to slow it down and run a half-court offense. We’re hoping we can be a team that transitions well as the season goes on, but we’re not at that point yet.”

Madison was ultimately able to do that. Slowing down the pace, the Bulldogs gained their footing on defense and held OOB without a point for nearly four minutes and without a basket with nearly five. Free throws from Cornforth and Brayden Furbush pushed the lead back to nine as the Seagulls couldn’t recover.

In addition to Cornforth’s 13 boards, Madison also got eight from Deacon Murray and five apiece from Furbush and Ethan Linkletter. OOB found it difficult to penetrate the lane as Cornforth and Linkletter gave the Seagulls little space in the post, combining for six blocks.

“Our coach told us to rebound, so we tried to just crash the board as much as we could,” Cornforth said. “We pretty much tried to play as aggressive as possible to beat these guys on the glass. … We stayed strong mentally and made sure we didn’t break down when they started coming back.”

Slowing down the pace also helped Madison stop turning the ball over at an alarming pace. The Bulldogs had 24 turnovers early in the fourth quarter but committed just two over the final six minutes, a turn of events that prevented OOB from scoring more easy points in transition.

Madison is now 4-0 for the first time since finishing as Class C South runner-up in 2016-17. The Bulldogs are still a work in progress after graduating 1,000-point scorer Callan Franzose, but the team has been solid defensively thus far as it continues to find its offensive identity.

“We’ve been struggling to score because he was our 1,000-point scorer, but we just need to find our roles and work together offensively,” Stroud said. “It just feels good (to be 4-0). It’s been a while since that happened.”