Madison Daily Leader - News - 02/27/2013 - Bulldogs clobber FIS 101-42 in district opener

02/27/2013

Bulldogs clobber FIS 101-42 in district opener

By LARRY LEEDS, Sports Editor

The Madison Bulldogs jumped out to a 14-0 lead and never looked back in posting a 101-42 win over the Flandreau Indian School in the opening round of the District 5A Tournament on Tuesday night at the Madison Middle School Gym.

"We wanted to get an early run to have a cushion," said Madison senior Tyler Wiebe.

The Bulldogs held a 62-14 halftime advantage.

"This was a great way to start our postseason," Madison Coach Michael Ricke said. "We started strong and played well throughout the game. I was very pleased with our effort."

Madison made 42 of 76 field goals, 55 percent, and cashed in on 12 of 15 free throws, 80 percent. FIS made 15 of 50 field goals, 30 percent, and hit 7-of-10 free throws, 70 percent.

The Bulldogs owned the boards 40-19. Eighteen of Madison's rebounds were offensive rebounds.

Trae VandeBerg poured in 27 points, snared nine rebounds and had three assists and four steals to pace the Bulldogs. "Trae had an unbelievable game," Ricke said. "It wasn't that he scored 27 points; it was that he was perfect on the night, going 10 for 10 from the field and 4-for-4 from the free throw line."

Braxton Olson tossed in 18 points and had five steals for the winners. Jesse Brown added 13 counters and Eli Roemen chipped in with 11 points. Preston Nordling dished out eight assists.

"We've been doing a really good job of taking care of the basketball," Ricke said. "We only turned it over nine times, and over the last five games we've only turned about nine times a game. If we can stay at that number throughout the postseason, we should have a lot of success."

Francis Eastman had 11 points and Clinton Ten Fingers had eight points to lead FIS. Rueben Crow Feather snared five rebounds.

This will be the last high school game played in the middle school gym as construction of a new facility is under way.

"It was fun we were able to get our first varsity win in here and our last varsity win here," Wiebe said.

Madison (19-2 overall) will face Elkton-Lake Benton for the District 5A title on Friday at the Elmen Center on the campus of Augustana College at 8 p.m. Elkton-Lake Benton beat Flandreau Public 62-59.

"They are a dangerous team who can beat you in a lot of different ways and with a lot of different people," Ricke said. "We are going to have to be at the top of our game if we want to advance to the region championship."