MADISON TOWNSHIP, Ohio — It wasn’t that Madison won its season opener against Shelby, it’s how the Rams won that had coach Tim Mergel so excited.
The Rams limited the Whippets to 11 combined points in the third and fourth quarters and cruised to a 58-44 win against their Richland County rivals.
The win was Madison’s first over Shelby since the 2008-09 opener. The Whippets had won five in a row in the series.
“That was one of the best defensive performances I’ve ever seen,” Mergel said. “It was phenomenal.
“To be able to switch without any hesitation and still stay in sync was really something special to watch tonight.”
The Whippets (0-1) raced out to a 21-13 first quarter lead before the Rams (1-0) tightened the screws. Shelby missed its final 11 shots in the first half and didn’t have a field goal in the third until senior forward Corey Cox connected on 3-pointer with 1:46 remaining.
“They started off hot, but they can’t shoot that way all game,” said Madison sophomore Tyrell Ajian, who scored a game-high 22 points. “We had to keep playing.”
The Rams outscored the Whippets 16-7 in the second quarter and took a 29-28 halftime lead. Madison extended its advantage to 38-32 after three quarters and outscored Shelby 20-12 in the fourth.
“We should have went home after the first quarter,” Shelby coach Troy Schwemley said. “We put up 21, our movement was good. I thought … the way we were subbing and playing hard, that we would wear them down.”
Healthy and Happy: Ajian averaged about 10 points a game as a freshman and was selected to the All-Ohio Cardinal Conference first team, but he was slowed by injuries suffered during the football season for most of last year.
The 6-foot-1 point guard emerged from football injury-free this year. Mergel said his sophomore sensation should be an OCC Player of the Year candidate for the next three years.
“I’m a lot more healthy. I haven’t had any struggles with my injuries,” Ajian said. “Just being healthy has helped a lot.”
Ajian said the 2014-15 Rams will be nothing like the 2013-14 edition. Madison was 6-18 last year.
“Everybody’s bought in,” Ajian said. “We’re all on the same page.”
Jesse Weightman backed Ajian with 13 points. Austin Finley added nine.
Off the Mark: At one point Friday, the Whippets misfired on 17 straight field goal attempts. Schwemley was at a loss to explain the shooting woes.
“How many of those shots were point blank layups? Once you start missing a couple of those … the basket gets a little smaller,” Schwemley said. “The more shots we missed the worse the next shot was. I felt like our patience wasn’t very good.”
Lucas Bihl led the Whippets with 15 points. Brandon Schneider added nine.
Junior Varsity: Shelby rolled to a 60-43 win in junior varsity action. Brock Kehres led the Whippets with 23 points. Shamar Windham topped the Rams with 18.
