Defensive breakdown dooms Trinity Lutheran boys against Madison

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Madison’s boys outscored Trinity Lutheran 27-9 in the second quarter to break open a tight game and went home with an 80-46 win Saturday night in the Bollinger Athletic Complex.

Cougars coach Brian Stuckwisch said his team had too many breakdowns on defense as the Cubs shot 12-for-23 from 3-point range.

“Our defense was a big factor,” he said. “We gave up 75 points the other night and 80 tonight. We’ve got to work on that. That’s the biggest thing. Hats off to Madison, they were on fire today. They hit a lot of 3s.

“Sometimes we had a hand in their face, sometimes we didn’t. We didn’t rotate quick enough on our defense. We tried a couple different things and then we finally went to man-to-man. Nothing really worked. They were on fire all night.”

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The Cougars were able to keep it close in the first period despite the Cubs hitting four 3-pointers during that time. Both teams started out cold before Blair Holt’s 3-pointer put the Cubs on top 3-0 at 6:11.

Josh Rowe scored two baskets inside, while Trent Shoemaker and A.J. Goecker hit 3-pointers as the Cougars trailed 14-12 at the end of the period.

Madison went on a 7-0 run the first two minutes of the second period before Josh Rowe scored off an offensive rebound for a 21-14 score with 6:05 on the clock.

The Cubs (1-1) went on another 7-0 run before Goecker made a 3-pointer to set the score at 28-17 with 4:15 on the clock.

Madison led 41-21 at the half.

Cooper Yancey had a hot hand throughout the night as he made two 3-pointers in the first period, scored 11 points in the second quarter, and took game scoring honors with 24 points and had six 3s.

Goecker’s second 3-pointer of the third period left the Cougars trailing 48-33 before Madison moved on top 58-33 heading into the fourth. He finished with 18 points, but no other Trinity player scored more than seven points.

“Our ball movement was not as good as the other night,” Stuckwisch said. “The defense for Madison was very good. They kind of knew who our shooters were, and they got a hand in our face and we weren’t hitting shots like they were the other night.

“Some of that was our ball movement. We were kind of stagnant. We kind of stood around after we passed the ball. We didn’t cut, and we didn’t screen like we should, so I don’t know if it was our offense or if it was their defense.”

Trinity (1-1) had 14 turnovers and Madison committed eight.

The Cubs held a 31-24 advantage on the boards.

Ian Strouse, a 6-foot-4, 230-pound senior, had eight rebounds to go along with 12 points.

Stuckwisch said he posed a problem for his team. “(Strouse) was very big and strong and we didn’t have anybody to match him up strength-wise or size wise. He did a good job for them in there. He manhandled all the boards.”

Josh Rowe was high rebounder for Trinity with seven.

The Cougars will travel to Hauser on Tuesday night, and Stuckwisch said defense will get a lot of attention today in practice.

“We’ll work on defense” he said. “I think our defense has to be there. Our offense, it seems like it’s there one night and it’s not the next, but the defense can always be there every single night, so we’ve got to work on that first, and then we’ll work on our ball movement.”

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