In finishing third in the George Long Holiday Hoops tournament at Wakefield High School, the Madison Warhawks compiled a 2-1 record, which included two overtime games, and ended a frustrating losing streak against one of their biggest rivals of late.
Madison (8-3) defeated Centreville, 68-59, in double overtime of the Dec. 30 boys high-school consolation game. That victory snapped a five-game losing streak to Concorde District rival Centreville, three in playoff contests.
The Warhawks’ other games were a 79-61 first-round victory over the Washington-Liberty Generals, followed by a 70-64 overtime semifinal loss to the champion Annandale Atoms.
Against Centreville, Madison did not shoot well in the first half, missing its first six shots of the contest, and trailed 31-24 at halftime. The Warhawks were still behind at the end of three periods, 42-38, then rallied to tie the game at 49 at the end of regulation.
The score was tied at 57 after the first overtime, then Madison outscored the Warhawks, 11-2, in the second extra period, thanks to an 8-0 run to open the stanza.
“In the second half, we worked more inside out, got confidence and started moving the ball better and got into a rhythm shooting three,” Madison coach Kevin Roller said.
Madison made seven three-pointers in the second half and 10 for the game.
Will Giery (12 points, two assists) made all four of his three-pointers in the second half.
Joseph Chalabi led Madison in scoring with 15 points off the bench to go with seven rebounds, four steals and four assists. Cullen Sullender made two threes and scored 13 for Madison to go with three assists; Bo Kuhblank scored 10 and had seven assists, five steals and four rebounds, playing 39 of the game’s 40 minutes. Adian Faulkner added eight points and six rebounds and Andrew Gorkowski scored his seven points in the fourth quarter and the overtimes.
Kuhblank, Madison’s senior point guard, was chosen to the all-tournament team. In the three tournament games, he scored 18 points, had 19 assists, 11 rebounds, eight steals and made four three-pointers.
Against Annandale, Madison led 39-28 at halftime and 42-39 after three periods. The Atoms shot well in the fourth quarter, tying the game at 60 to end regulation. In overtime, Madison scored just four points.
“We made mistakes and just couldn’t get the ball in the basket starting in the third quarter, and Annandale slowly got back in the game,” Roller said.
Gorkowski scored 19, Kuhblank 18 and Giery and Faulkner (nine rebounds) nine each in the loss. The Warhawks made nine three-pointers.
In the opener against Washington-Liberty, Madison made 13 three-pointers, led by five from Gorkowski (23 points, three steals, three assists), four from Sullender (20 points, three assists, three steals) and three from Giery (nine points, six rebounds). Faulkner (two blocks) and Miles Franklin each scored nine with Chalabi having four points, four rebounds and four assists. Kuhblank did not score but had eight assists, five rebounds and three steals.
Madison led 37-31 at halftime, then 59-46 after three periods.
The Warhawks shot 60 percent from the floor.
“We didn’t have a cold shooting spell. We moved the ball well, found the open guy and showed patience,” Roller said about the shooting effort against W-L.
NOTES: As a team, Madison made 32 three-pointers in the tournament . . . Earlier in the season, Kuhblank made a walk-off game-winning three pointer against McLean