Bulldogs defeat Lennox Orioles 69-54

By ARIY-EL BOYNTON, Sports Editor

The Lennox Orioles and the Madison Bulldogs took their game beyond the 3-point arc in Tuesday's basketball game.

While the Orioles won the 3-point battle (9-8), the Bulldogs won the war by defeating the Lennox Orioles 69-54 at the Madison Middle School Gym, improving to 12-0 on the season.

"It's a good win. They shot the ball really well, especially behind the arc in the second half. To beat them by 15 is extremely impressive. I was proud of how the kids played tonight," said Michael Ricke, Madison's coach.

For the second time this season, Bulldog Michael Sullivan torched the Orioles from downtown. He went 5-for-7 from 3-point land on Tuesday (he netted 18 points in the first quarter on Dec. 18) in his 17-point night.

He has scored 39 points in his two games against Lennox this season.

"Lennox has always been a rival of ours since we were little, so you always want to play well against them," said Sullivan, who also had a rebound and a assist.

Early in the second quarter, Lennox was able to make a run and close the lead to 18-12. The Dogs responded as Mitch White nailed a three, Mitch Benson scored off a rebound and Sullivan forced Lennox to call a timeout when he made his first 3-pointer.

"Going from a six-point lead to a 14-point lead is huge. It gave us some breathing room, and with the crowd behind us, our defense and our depth, not many teams are able to come back from that, and we came on top tonight," said Ricke.

Sullivan made three straight 3-pointers to silence a mini-run by the Orioles to start the second half.

"I was feeling it in the second half," said Sullivan.

"It's really tough to beat us when we go on runs like that," said Ricke.

After a sub-par performance in Saturday's 55-50 victory over McCook Central-Montrose at the Corn Palace, Ricke was happy to get a better game from the Bulldogs.

"It was nice to put a solid game together. Our defense was stingy and we got to the boards pretty good," said Ricke.

The Bulldogs held a 37-22 rebounding advantage.

Despite not being satisfied with his play, Derrick Wiebe scored 14 points and pulled down nine rebounds for Madison on Tuesday.

"Derrick was frustrated with his night tonight. There was some shots that he left out there that he'd like to have back. He's a very important part of the team. He'll re-group. He's a guy that we will rely on down the stretch," said Ricke.

White scored 15 points and Mitch Manthey had eight.

"Mitch Manthey played extremely well coming off the bench," said Ricke.

David Schreiber added six points for Madison.

Next up for Madison is a rematch with West Central on Thursday at the DSU Fieldhouse for Parents Night.

The last time the Dogs played the Trojans (Jan. 11), West Central suffered a 60-52 loss.

"We want to cream them this time. We're looking forward to this game," said Sullivan.

Ricke believes the large court will benefit his team the second time against West Central.

©Madison Daily Leader 2010