MADISON — Once the Madison boys basketball team started to heat up Monday night against Forest Hills, it never let up.
A 22-0 run between the third and fourth quarters led the Bulldogs to a 77-63 victory in a Class C/D crossover at Veneziano’s Gym.
Callan Franzose led Madison (9-7) with 22 points and 19 rebounds.
“We trusted in our teammates and just executed,” said Franzose, a senior guard. “In the first half, we were playing a little flat.”
Franzose has scored 992 career points. He is poised to become the first Madison boys basketball player to reach the 1,000-point plateau since Jon Christopher did it during the 1989-90 season. Franzose’s next opportunity will come against Oak Hill on Tuesday night in Wales.
“I’m excited, but I don’t want it to stop me from winning and focusing on getting that No. 8 seed (in the Class C South playoffs). But I’m definitely looking forward to it.”
Kayden Hibbard, Brode Strout and Shyre Bonito each added 14 points for the Bulldogs.
“Our strength has been shooting, and we have guys that can get to the basket,” Madison head coach Jason Furbush said. “That helps (setting up) open shots.”
Madison’s Callan Franzose fields a pass against Forest Hills defender Braidan Welch during a boys basketball game Monday in Madison. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel
Mason Desjardins led the Tigers (14-3) with 44 points, including five 3-pointers. He scored 24 of Forest Hills’ 32 points in the first half.
Madison and Forest Hills traded leads in the first half. An early 6-0 run helped the Bulldogs to a 17-14 lead at the end of the first quarter. But Desjardins scored 12 points in the second quarter alone, giving the Tigers a 32-24 lead at halftime.
The Bulldogs enjoyed a 7-0 run midway through the third. Then came the 22-0 run late in the period, starting with a 3-pointer by Strout. The scoring spurt wouldn’t end until the middle of the fourth, with Madison holding a strong 67-48 lead.
“I told them at halftime we missed a lot of shots in the first half,” Furbush said. “I said, ‘Guys, we’re getting the looks we want. We’re going to hit them in the second half.’ They made me look good in the second half. When we hit shots like that, we’re tough to beat.”
Desjardins scored 12 points in the fourth quarter, helping to chip away at Madison’s lead, but it was too much to overcome.
Blaine Nadeau added eight points for Forest Hills. The Tigers, the No. 1 seed in Class D South, were without junior forward Cooper Daigle, one of the team’s leading scorers, due to the flu, leaving the team with seven players.
“This was good, it was good competition,” Forest Hills head coach Anthony Amero said. “It was a fun game, felt like a playoff game. Mason did what he should do, put us on his back and give us a shot to win. It was an impressive performance by him, so I’m happy with that. But you can’t have your second-leading scorer out in a game like that and expect to win.”
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