“We believe defense wins championships, and we focus heavy on that,” McGuire said. “You wish more shots will go in the hole and make things a little bit easier on you, but defensively, that’s where we hang our hats.”
Liv Carpenter scored a game-high 11 points, and 11th-seeded Madison held Southwestern Buckeye League rival and No. 12 Carlisle to eight second-half points to secure a 38-21 victory in a Division IV tournament opener at Troy.
“We knew that we didn’t want it to be over,” said Carpenter, a junior forward. “We knew that we wanted another week together with our team and our seniors. We made sure we pushed through and did what we needed to do. We made sure we had good D and took good shots.”
Madison (11-12) faces No. 1 Alter (14-8) — which beat Benjamin Logan 73-23 — at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Troy. The Mohawks were knocked out of last year’s tournament by the Knights, 58-40.
“When you’re in the state tournament and get to the state tournament, at some point you’re going to play one of best teams,” McGuire said. “We played Alter last year, and we gave them a heck of a game. They’re a great program — a lot of history, state championships, and stuff.
“Why not want to play against that, you know? Obviously, we would maybe want to play them later in the tournament. But to be able to go against them — we have a great relationship with their staff, and it’s fun to compete with a team like that.”
Madison has taken nine of the last 11 meetings against Carlisle (8-15). The Indians won 50-26 on Dec. 21, and the Mohawks won 37-33 on Jan. 25 during the regular season.
“For us, getting this game in general just playing Madison for a third time, it was kind of a shock to us the way the brackets fell,” Carlisle coach Tony Phillips said. “We wanted the challenge.
“Unfortunately, at this stage in the year, we were very banged up. We haven’t had our starting five, our starting seven in the lineup since game two or three,” Phillips added. “We’ve had a lot of different lineups — a lot of people playing different spots. It’s been tough.
“But the one thing I will say, the one consistent is that the girls have played hard all year long. For that, I commend them.”
Freshman forward Alona Henry scored four of her six points in the first quarter to help Madison take an 11-4 lead. Carlisle pulled its deficit to within 16-13 heading into the locker room.
That’s when the Mohawks outscored the Indians 22-8 in the second half to pull away. Ally Crim scored all seven of her points in the third quarter to boost Madison.
“First half, we came out flat, and we looked like a young team with our first tournament experience,” McGuire said. “Then a big thing, a big point of emphasis for me all the time is winning the first four minutes of the second half — and we did that.
“I gave them a goal of starting the second half with a score and a stop, a score and a stop — and we went two more possessions and got another score and another stop. That was the game right there. We won it in that first four minutes of that half and didn’t let up. So I was proud of how we turned it around after halftime.”
McGuire is in his first season as head coach of the Madison Mohawks. He was an assistant coach for his father, Brian McGuire, who retired last year.
“For me and our staff, our focus this whole year has been a lot of teaching, a lot of learning and getting experience,” Tommy McGuire said. “With our older ones, they’ve done a great job of teaching those younger ones. And sometimes it’s meant those younger ones have maybe taken some time away from the older ones.
“But when it comes to team atmosphere, these kids are always rooting for each other,” McGuire added. “And as a coach, that’s the type of culture you want. They battle everyday with each other, but they’re willing to help each other out after practice.
“Listen, winning in the tournament is hard. Winning in general is hard. So, you’ve got to take it with what you got.”
Madison held Carlisle leading scorer and sophomore guard Brynn Gill to just three first-half points. Gill scores 11.5 an outing. Mackenzy Shackelford led the Indians with eight points.
“Tonight, the shots weren’t falling,” Phillips said. “They had a pretty good game plan. We couldn’t put the ball in the basket. We couldn’t make a run there at the end. It was tough all around.”
Phillips, who finished his seventh year at Carlisle, said there were times throughout the season where his team was practicing with just six players.
“We had eight or nine kids with injuries,” he said. “All the way from an ACL to a slipped disc in a back or popping a shoulder out. It’s been crazy. Very unique season, but then again, the girls have been great to work with. They’ve played hard all year long, so I can’t complain.”
Carlisle graduates seniors Nevaeh Miller, Justine Bowlin, Dakota Frantz, Britany Fleenor and Shackelford.
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