Morse Rally Isn’t Enough to Catch Up with Madison : No. 6 Holds Off No. 3 in City Eastern Opener

It looked as if Morse High School had the Madison boys’ basketball team right where it wanted Friday night.

Even though its star, Willie Davis, had scored only two points, Morse trailed by only two at halftime. Then it sprung the full-court trapping press that had helped it to upset Lincoln the week before.

That got the fans into the game. And since Madison had only won once in nine years at Morse, the victory seemed assured.

But Madison adjusted and broke Morse’s press with regularity. And after fending off a late rally, No. 6 Madison defeated No. 3 Morse, 73-68, in the City Eastern League opener.

Madison’s Robby Robinson was one of the keys to breaking the press. After scoring two points in the first quarter, Robinson scored three big layups off the fast break in the third.

“We weren’t used to the press at first,” said Robinson, who finished with 24 points and 10 rebounds. “But we adjusted and got a lot of points off it.”

Even though Madison (13-2, 1-0) was breaking the press, Morse (8-6, 0-1) hung close in the third quarter by making 6 of 8 free throws. Desmond Weekly helped by scoring six points inside, and Morse trailed by only four, 49-45, at the end of the third.

But Madison then went on a 13-4 run behind Robinson and Andre Mitchell (who finished with 18 points) and led, 64-53, with less than three minutes to play.

Then it was Madison’s turn to be overconfident as Morse took advantage of Madison’s cautious play on defense.

Davis made two free throws and a basket in 49 seconds as Morse ran off an 8-2 streak and trailed, 66-61, with 1:56 left.

After two Jeff Harper free throws made it 68-61, Mark Lawrence--who scored 9 of Morse’s 11 points in the first quarter--cut the margin to four on a three-pointer with 37 seconds left. The lead was three after Lawrence Mothershed stole the inbounds pass, was fouled and made a free throw with 33 seconds to play. All Morse needed to tie was a three-pointer.

Morse quickly fouled Harper to get the ball back, but he made both free throws to put his team ahead, 70-65.

Davis then hit a three-pointer from straight out and, after trailing by 11, Morse was only two behind with 12 seconds left.

But the Morse press failed again, and all it could do was foul Jeff Alexandr when he broke free and tried to dunk. Alexandr made one and missed the second, but Robinson grabbed the rebound, and the game was over.

“It got close at the end,” Robinson said. “But I knew we were going to win. We have a lot of things to work on. This was the first time we had our whole team together since early December.”

Said Madison Coach Jim Thompson: “I wasn’t comfortable with an 11-point lead. They led, 7-0, at the start of the game, and then we came back and scored seven straight. No lead is safe in a Madison-Morse game.”

Harper scored 20, including 7 of 8 free throws. Alexandr, who played with four fouls most of the second half, had 10 rebounds and 4 points in the fourth quarter.

Davis finished with 14 points for Morse, including 7 in the fourth quarter. Lawrence had 17 points, and Weekly had 14.

Neither team could seem to run what it wanted to in the first half. Neither could get the ball inside, and both had to rely on outside shots and points off offensive rebounds.

Lawrence scored the first seven to give Morse a 7-0 lead. He finished with nine in the quarter, but Morse trailed, 12-11.

Robinson, who scored only two in the first quarter, scored 11 points and had five rebounds to help Madison to a 30-28 halftime lead.