Madison County beats Paxton in 1A semifinal

LAKELAND – Madison County will have a chance to finish what it couldn’t finish last year.

The Cowboys, who lost last year in the state semifinals of the Class 1A state tournament, will play for a state championship Tuesday.

The Cowboys got to the Class 1A championship game Monday morning with a 63-51 win over Paxton in the FHSAA Boys Basketball State Finals at the RP Funding Center.

The Cowboys will face Wildwood Tuesday at 2 p.m. A year ago, Wildwood eliminated Madison County in the semifinals 65-63 after Madison County had a seven-point lead with less than five minutes to play.

“Everybody knows we came up short last year,” Madison County guard Travis Jay said. “We stopped playing.

“I'm happy we won (Monday) but we have one more game,” said Jay, who has signed a football scholarship with Florida State.

Against Wildwood, Cowboys coach Allen Demps said, “We've got to be more focused, we've got to be mentally prepared and play a lot better basketball to win the state championship.”

Madison County will be shooting for its first boys basketball state championship.

In Monday’s win over Paxton, it was a similar scenario. Madison County used a 9-2 run in the third quarter to build a 45-38 lead. The Cowboys were then able to keep that lead.

Paxton, which had won 20 games in a row, cut the margin to three, 47-44, but Madison County responded with six straight points to push the lead to 53-44 early in the fourth quarter.

“As the game kind of went on, their depth kind of got us a little,” Paxton coach Jeff Bradley said. “That was a concern. We had to make shots to keep the pressure on them. Once they got it going (in the second half), they were able to pick up their intensity.”

Paxton had four players who played all 32 minutes and a fourth that played 29. Madison County used a rotation of eight players throughout the game.

Madison County (25-3) had four players in double figures led by Jay’s 17 points. Jay also had 10 rebounds and six assists. Dilan Lawson had 15, Vincenta Mitchell had 13 and Demarvion Brown 10.

Paxton (29-2) was led by Connor Varnum with 17 points (11 from the free throw line). Alonzo Wright had 14 and Latrell Sanders 11.

PAXTON (51) – Keontae Sanders 3-5 0-0 6, Zach Williams 1-6 0-0 3, Connor Varnum 3-8 11-12 17, Alonzo Wright 5-13 4-5 14, Latrell Sanders 4-11 0-1 11, Taylor Beck 0-1 0-0 0, Adam Hall 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 16-48 15-18 51.

MADISON COUNTY (63) – Dilan Lawson 6-10 1-2 15, Demarvion Brown 5-11 0-0 10, Travis Jay 3-9 9-17 17, Vincenta Mitchell 2-6 7-10 13, Christopher Simmons 3-6 1-2 8, Patrick Hampton 0-0 0-0 0, Marvin Alexander 0-2 0-0 0, Kelivon Oliver 0-0 0-0 0, Joseph Jackson 0-0 0-0 0, Zarrion Robinson 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 19-45 18-31 63.

Paxton ; 13 ; 16 ; 15 ; 7 – 51

Madison County ; 15 ; 17 ; 19 ; 12 – 63

3-pt FG: Paxton 4-13 (Williams 1-1, Wright 0-1, Sanders 3-7, Beck 0-1, Hall 0-3); Madison County 7-17 (Lawson 2-4, Brown 0-1, Jay 2-5, Mitchell 2-3, Simmons 1-2, Alexander 0-1, Robinson 0-1). Rebounds: Paxton 32 (Wright 11), Madison County 35 (Brown, Jay 10). Assists: Paxton 9 (Varnum 5), Madison County 13 (Jay 6). Team Fouls: Paxton 20, Madison County 17. Fouled Out: Mitchell.