MADISON — Down goes No. 1.
Behind the play of Jeff Flanagan and Maddox Singletary, Madison Central knocked off top-ranked Starkville 55-44 in a key Region 2-7A matchup on Wednesday night.
After having a six-game losing streak in December and early January, the Jaguars have now won five of their last six games.
“This group is so young and have been battling through games that we’ve not found ways to win games all year and sitting here with a .500 (record) and the No. 1 team in the state that’s very well-coached and to find a way to do that in that moment is huge for our team and our confidence,” said Madison Central coach Ben Gardner. “It’s a growth process with starting five juniors, but I’m so proud of them tonight.”
With Starkville up 13-12 in the final seconds of the first quarter, Singletary hit a layup at the buzzer to give the Jaguars a 14-13 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Madison Central (13-12, 4-3 Region 2-7A) never trailed after that.
The Jaguars held the Yellowjackets to just six points in the second quarter and held a 25-19 lead at halftime.
The second half began with a back-and-forth third quarter, but Madison Central held a slim 36-33 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
After Jerwan McCarter got a steal and a dunk for Starkville to cut the Jaguar lead to 36-35, Madison Central answered with an 11-2 run to take a 47-37 lead with 3:41 left in the game. The Jaguars’ run was highlighted by a Flanagan three-pointer.
Flanagan followed with back-to-back lay-ups to give the Jaguars a 54-42 lead and put the game out of reach.
“We did this as a team and we just defended well. The main focus coming into the game was defense and when we held them to a certain amount of points we knew offense was going to come, so we just went with the flow of the game,” Flanagan said. “When our opportunity came, we just attacked. The losses taught us and we just learned from every loss.”
Flanagan finished with a game-high 20 points to lead the Jaguars, while Singletary added 13 points for Madison Central.
“We lost six in a row over Christmas, so it was them learning and trusting in what we’re doing and over the last week and a half the guys have bought in, became selfless, and do whatever it takes to win games and have grown up,” Gardner said. “I’ve been both Jeff and Maddox’s tail all year to have somebody that refuses to lose and lead. The guys in those moments didn’t want to lose tonight. It’s going to be a fun run at the end.”
T.J. Warren had 10 points to lead Starkville (21-2, 6-1).
“Road game in the district and we expected it to be a tough game. We got off to a good start but after that we relaxed and didn’t play at the level we started at and couldn’t get shots to fall, so a tough night for us,” said Starkville coach Anthony Carlyle. “They did a great job tonight. Everytime we’d get something going we would turn the ball over and they would hit a shot to extend the lead. We couldn’t capitalize every time we (made) a play.”
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