Basketball season is in full swing after last week’s annual Turkey Shootout between the Madison Cubs and the Southwestern Rebels. Junior varsity boys and girls Turkey Shootout was played Monday, November 21st.

Wednesday’s night’s Varsity Turkey Shootout was a barn-burner. The varsity girls played first followed by the boys varsity.  

The varsity girls fell short in the 1st quarter. Southwestern led Madison 13-7.

“We worked well as a team and continued to work hard even though we got off on a rough start,” said Junior Emma Beasley, “We can improve by playing hard for all four quarters instead of starting out slow and gradually getting better throughout the game. We need to come ready to play.”

The girls kept going and went into halftime down by five. The score was Madison 22, Southwestern 27. At halftime, Junior Hannah Imel led the Cubs with six points and the Lady Cubs had 13 turnovers overall.

Imel said, “I think the underclassmen did really well and helped the team play harder. I think we showed good teamwork towards the end for a comeback.”

The Lady Cubs entered the third quarter with energy. They got six straight points in the beginning of the third and took over the lead. The score was 37-34 after the third quarter.

Madison gained the biggest lead of the game with a score of 41-35 in the fourth quarter. The final was Madison 50, Southwestern 37. Hannah Imel led the Lady Cubs with 14 points and 18 rebounds. The Lady Cubs will keep the Victory Bell for the fifth year in a row.

“I think we could improve on getting a better start in the first quarter of the games.” said Imel

The varsity boys were ready to make their debut against their closest rival. The boys fell short in the first quarter with Southwestern up by six.

The Cubs fought hard and gained on the Rebels. The Southwestern Rebels put pressure on the Madison Cubs, ending halftime with a 30-28 lead. Sophomore Cooper Yancey led the Cubs at halftime with 19 points.

Yancey said, “Our defense in the first half was shaky, but we picked it up in the second half and were able to stop their offensive threats for the most part. We worked the ball around well and hit. To be exact, we shot 22 for 44 from the field, and that’s 50%.”

The second half of the game was intense, also. Southwestern pushed the lead back up to five points, but Madison turned up the heat. Southwestern began to lose their edge as Madison gained theirs.

Junior Brayden Perry made a layup that brought Madison ahead by a point. The score was 39-38. Southwestern and Madison went neck and neck, switching leads throughout the quarter.

“I think we shot the ball well. We shot 50% from the field which is pretty good. We held their two leading scorers to two field goals in the second half.” said Perry.

Southwestern came back and ended the 3rd quarter with a one-point lead. Southwestern had 49 points. Madison had 48.

Madison took the lead in the last five minutes of the fourth quarter by a point. With Madison leading 53-52, Yancey hit back-to-back shots in the start of the 4th quarter and the Rebels could not keep up.

Madison maintained the lead closing the fourth with barely over two minutes left to play. In the final minute, Madison led 61-55. Southwestern took the ball in bounds but still could not get ahead of the Cubs.

“We had 19 turnovers total which I would like to drop down to single digits. I also hope to improve our toughness with the ball.” said Perry.

The final score was Madison 65, Southwestern 60. This was the Cubs’ 16th consecutive win against the Rebels. The Cubs celebrate with the Old Oaken Bucket. Cooper Yancey led the Cubs with a career-high of 31 points.

“We need to improve on our inside game, but that will come with time. We also need to work on boxing out and rebounding. That will help us tremendously.” said Yancey.

The Madison Cubs will host the Jennings County Panthers Friday night to play their second game of the season.

The junior varsity girls played a good game with a final score of Madison 51, Southwestern 11. Freshman Harper Watson lead the Lady Cubs with 12 points.

The JV boys played hard and pulled out a win Monday night. The final score was Madison 62, Southwestern 45. Sophomore Carson Livingston lead the Madison cubs with 21 points.