Rams fall to Madison

By Brad Fauber - sports@nvdaily.com

STRASBURG -- For host Strasburg, Wednesday's Bull Run District matchup with Madison County was one to forget.

The Rams never seemed to find a rhythm on offense, shooting a paltry 15-for-48 (31.3 percent) from the floor for the game and turning the ball over 15 times, compared to a 50 percent (16 for 32) effort by the Mountaineers.

Madison County's shooting percentage was largely boosted by the Mountaineers' ability to turn fast-break opportunities into easy buckets, often beating the Rams defenders down the court in transition.

Strasburg coach Millson French said the Rams' inability to slow down the Mountaineers' transition game, particularly in the second period, may have been an unwelcome side-effect of Strasburg's poor offensive showing.

"What really killed us was that we didn't get back on defense in the first half," he said. "We just weren't getting back and I felt like our ineptness on offense was affecting the rest of our game."

Strasburg (10-9, 6-6 Bull Run) started the night strong, taking a 5-0 lead in the first period after a 3-pointer by senior Aaron Doman and a bucket inside by sophomore Jonathan Kloosterman.

The Rams then missed their next eight shots and didn't score again until a trey by Matt Clutter gave them an 8-6 lead with 15 seconds left in the opening frame.

Madison County (12-8, 8-4) shot just 3-for-9 from the floor in the game's first eight minutes, but picked things up in the second period, shooting a stellar 7-for-9 from the floor in the quarter.

The Mountaineers used an 18-4 run in the frame to take a 24-12 lead with 1:25 left, capped by a pair of fast-break layups by Lucas McDaniel and a bucket in transition by Travis Warren. Madison County tallied 12 fast-break points in the first half.

"We did a good job of [running the fast break] tonight," Mountaineers coach Ben Breeden said. "When we limited them to one shot and got that rebound, we were able to really beat them down the floor. That was key."

The Rams were able to cut into the lead before intermission when Tyler Doman hit back-to-back buckets late in the period, sending both teams into the locker room with Madison County holding a 24-17 lead.

Aaron Doman, the lone Ram in double figures (15 points), hit a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to four early in the third before the Mountaineers extended the lead back to 12 midway through the frame.

Madison County took a 32-29 lead into the fourth quarter and pushed the lead to 10 points with less than six minutes to play, but the Rams once again fought back and cut the lead to four on a layup by Tyler Doman with 1:42 left to play.

But the Mountaineers used an 8-for-8 effort from the free-throw line by Warren in the game's final 90 seconds to put Strasburg away.

"To our credit, we kept battling. We'd get back in it, but we would find a way to mess up or give them an easy bucket -- all night it was that way," French said. "We just weren't ourselves. We didn't play well enough to win, that's basically it in a nutshell."

The Rams, who currently sit in fifth place in the Bull Run, face third-place Clarke County at home on Friday.