Madison Prep completed a tremendous 2013 season by winning the Boys Class 3 state championship last weekend in Columbia. The Bears defeated Kansas City St. Pius X 67-52 in the state title game to complete a 31-2 season.
For 29-year old head coach Tony Irons, it was his first state championship as a head coach. Tony’s first state championship comes 30 years after his father, Floyd Irons, won his first state championship at Vashon in 1983.
Both father and son had similar teams that brought them their first state titles. Both the Vashon ’83 and Madison Prep ’13 teams were small, quick and played with great speed and discipline on both ends of the court.
Madison Prep was built around the state’s top backcourt in seniors Martavian Payne and Kevin Baker, an all-purpose performer in Miles Nettles who played much bigger than 6’4” and guard Anthony Lee and Eric Clark. Junior Terrell Herndon was a sparkplug off the bench.
The road to the state title was not easy as the Bears had to defeat a strong Maplewood team 66-48 in the state sectionals and an equally strong Charleston team 63-54 in the state quarterfinals. Madison Prep, Charleston and Maplewood were the top three teams in Class 3 this season.
Congratulations to Tony Irons and the Madison Prep Bears on its run to the Class 3 state championship.
Repeat at 3
Lutheran North’s boys finished third in the Class 3 state tournament for the second consecutive year. After dropping a 69-43 decision to Madison Prep in the semifinals, the Crusaders rebounded to defeat Fatima 71-44 in the third-place game. Senior guard Anthony Virdure completed a tremendous career at North by scoring 25 points against Fatima. Virdure finished his career with 2,028 points, which is first on the school’s career list.
North Tech’s girls concluded a stellar season by finishing fourth in the Class 3 tournament. The Golden Eagles were edged by eventual state-champion Lutheran-St. Charles 65-61 in the state semifinals. Congratulations to coach George Merritt on taking North Tech to its first ever Final Four berth.
Game of the Year
The Game of the Year in high school basketball took place last Friday when Cahokia took on East St. Louis in the IHSA Class 3A Sectional Championship game at Mascoutah (Ill.). In a game which featured tremendous swings of momentum, Cahokia outlasted the Flyers 76-74 in overtime on guard Keenan Minor’s layup at the buzzer. A standing room only crowd was treated to a game of the ages. Cahokia led by as many as 16 points only to see the Flyers storm back and lead by seven points with one minute and 30 seconds left in regulation, only the see the Comanches come back to force overtime.
Minor led the Comanches with 23 points, followed by Dorenzo Jennings with 18 points and Vincent Jackson, Jr. with 14 points. Senior guard DeShawn Munson finished his career with 25 points while senior Johnny McCray added 23 points.
Cahokia face Chatham-Glenwood on Tuesday night in the Supersectionals in Springfield with a berth in the Final Four on the line. Also looking for a Final Four berth are the Edwardsville boys, who took out Rock Island 71-45 in the Class 4A Sectional finals in Pekin. The Tigers faced Chicago Heights Marian in the Normal Supersectionals on Tuesday night.
Madison upended
Madison (Ill.) finished as the state runners-up in the IHSA Class 1A state tournament in Peoria. The Trojans were upended by top-ranked Illini Central 55-44 in the state-championship game. Madison was led by 6’2” senior forward Marquis Borney, who had 24 points and 10 rebounds in the state finals.
(You can follow Earl Austin Jr. on Twitter @earlaustinjr and his daily basketball reports on his website, www.earlaustinjr.com.)
