ONTARIO, Ohio — Madison’s suffocating defense slowed down Ontario’s frenetic offense in the second half Tuesday night at the O-Rena, but the damage already had been done.
The Rams, who allowed 39.8 points per game through the first six games of the season, surrendered 38 points in the first half of a 54-48 loss to the Warriors.
Before Tuesday, Madison (5-2) hadn’t given up more than 45 points in a game. The Warriors, meanwhile, came in averaging 68 points a night.
“In the first half Ontario did some things that other teams haven’t been able to do against us,” Madison coach Tim Mergel said. “We would take away their first and second options and they would exploit us with their third and fourth options. They are a very patient basketball team.
“They are hard to pressure because they have quick guards, so our ball pressure wasn’t as effective as it normally is.”
The Warriors (6-1) blew out to a 21-13 first-quarter lead and pushed the advantage to 38-23 at the half. Ontario was never able to pull away in the second half, however, as the Rams began to chip away at the deficit.
“They fought. They never allowed us to extend that 15-point lead,” Ontario coach Joe Balogh said. “When you’re not able to extend, goofy things can happen. We had a couple of turnovers and a couple of bad fouls and they were able to get it under 10.
“We were fortunate that the clock was running out because they just kept fighting.”
Madison outscored Ontario 25-16 in the second half and pulled within five points with about 10 seconds to play.
“We got stuck on 40 (points) after stringing together three or four really bad offensive possessions,” Balogh said. “Our defense saved us because they weren’t able to score either.”
Clamping Down: The Warriors limited Madison’s Tyrell Ajian to 12 points on 2 of 8 shooting. The high-scoring sophomore came in averaging more than 20 points a game.
“I was trying to keep my hands to myself because I knew if I was too aggressive I would get into trouble,” said Ontario’s Lenell Shelby, who spent much of the evening matched up against Ajian. “I had to be aware of what he was trying to do.”
Shelby, who scored a game-high 21 points, had plenty of help in corralling Ajian. Treyvian Jordan and Quan Jackson both spent time guarding the prolific play-maker.
“We’ve got multiple guys who can guard him and they all give him a different look,” Balogh said. “Lenell is quick and strong, Quan is longer and Treyvian has a knack of getting his hand on the basketball.
“That was key for us, wearing down their main ball handler. It made it difficult for them to get into the stuff they wanted to run.”
Glass Work: Ontario out-rebounded Madison by a whopping 33-21 margin. Bradley Garverick led the Warriors with eight boards, including four at the offensive end.
“You watch Ontario on film against teams like Lexington and Sandusky and you don’t get a feel for how athletic they really are. Lexington has a couple of 6-8 guys and Sandusky has athletes who can jump out of the gym,” Mergel said. “Our kids found out quick that we need to get a body on someone. We learned a lesson there tonight.”
Shelby swiped seven boards while Paul Homan had four.
“We’ve got guards who can rebound pretty well, which helps,” Balogh said. “Bradley Garverick was key for us in the first half. He rebounded with authority.”
Turnovers: Ontario committed an uncharacteristic 21 turnovers, resulting in 17 Madison points.
“We’ve got to do a much better job of handling the ball,” Balogh said. “We can have a turnover every once in a while, but we can’t string together three or four in a row, which I think happened in the third quarter.”
Supporting Cast: Jesse Weightman and Billy Buckley each had nine points for the Rams, while Austin Finley added eight. For Ontario, Jordan and Corey Thomas backed Shelby with seven points apiece.
Junior Varsity: Ontario rolled to a 52-23 win in junior varsity action. Logan Jones led the Warriors with 14 points, while Gavin Adkins topped the Rams with eight.
