Goodpaster roared to a career-high 31 points in Carlisle’s 69-47 triumph, a win that allowed the Indians to keep pace with Preble Shawnee on top of the Southwestern Buckeye League Buckeye Division.
“We came out a little more aggressive (this time),” Goodpaster said. “We knew that we were the better team, so we just kept pushing it and doing our thing. We’ve been playing really well lately. We had a few guys get hot, and we sensed that. We just beat ’em early and protected our house.”
Carlisle held a 20-14 lead after one quarter, but the Mohawks managed 13 total points in the middle two periods and simply got overwhelmed.
Logan Baker had 16 points and nine rebounds for the Indians, who improved to 11-5 overall and 7-1 in the Buckeye. It was the sixth loss in eight games for Madison (7-9, 3-5).
“We came out on fire, and Adam Goodpaster was the main reason,” Carlisle coach Don Ridinger said. “He looked like a man on a mission tonight. I’m just real proud of our effort and the intensity we brought. We had a great crowd, and I think we feed off that home-crowd energy.
“This was one of our better games, but we’ve played really well in some games that we didn’t win. If we can continue to play like that, we’re going to be very competitive night in and night out.”
It was not a good night for the Mohawks, who committed 18 turnovers and trailed by as many as 34 points (63-29).
Freshman Grant Whisman, the SWBL’s leading scorer with an 18.8 average, led Madison with 10 points and nine boards. Donovan King added nine points.
“We’re a young team playing against a senior-laden team, and they took our kids to the woodshed tonight,” Mohawks coach Jeff Smith said. “Maybe our youth on the road was a factor. I don’t think our kids didn’t want to win. But I thought Carlisle was more willful and had greater determination at the beginning of the game.”
Goodpaster scored 13 points in the opening quarter and had 21 by halftime. Smith compared his performance to the 40-point effort by Xavier University’s Trevon Bluiett against Cincinnati on Thursday.
“He was like Bluiett,” Smith said. “I thought of that in the first half, but we didn’t score like UC did and couldn’t keep up. Goodpaster deserves credit for playing great against us.”
“I made a few 3s early, and that really helped my confidence,” Goodpaster said. “My teammates sensed that I was hot, so they did a really nice job of getting me the ball. I just felt good.”
On a night when big man Justin Flor was limited to two points and six rebounds, the Indians got points from 10 different players. Jake Moore tallied nine points, while Caleb Boy and Steve Summer collected five boards apiece.
Ridinger credited Baker and Boy for their defensive work against Whisman.
“We made a conscious effort to guard him very tightly,” the Carlisle coach said. “We did not want him to go off on us. I can read stats. I know what the kid can do. He’s going to be a terror in this league for the next three years.”
The Indians have won six of their last seven games and will travel to Milton-Union on Tuesday.
“We know Shawnee is really good and somebody else might not beat them,” Goodpaster said. “But as long as we just hold our own, we control our own destiny. We’ve got to take care of what we can control.”
Smith said the key for Madison is to stay together and don’t get discouraged.
“I told our guys that teams a lot better than us have gone through this,” Smith said. “We’ve got to keep pointing our guns outside the wagons. We can’t start pointing them at each other.
“We have six games left, which is about a fourth of the season, and we’ve gone through a tough stretch. Do we cash it in and just beat on each other? I’ve seen teams implode. I’ve done this long enough to see that. But I’ve also seen teams that are eager to get back in the gym and get to work. I hope we’re the latter.”
The Mohawks will host Dixie on Tuesday.
Madison 14-7-6-20—47
Carlisle 20-16-19-14—69
MADISON (7-9, 3-5 SWBL Buckeye): Ryan Friend 0 1 1, Mason Whiteman 2 0 6, Donovan King 3 2 9, Ethan Limon 2 0 5, Logan Gomia 0 2 2, Ryan Duritsch 2 1 5, Matt Gomia 0 2 2, Cameron Morgan 2 0 5, Grant Whisman 2 6 10, Kevin Duritsch 1 0 2. Totals: 14-14-47
CARLISLE (11-5, 7-1 SWBL Buckeye): Jake Moore 3 2 9, Cash Ridinger 0 1 1, Justin Flor 1 0 2, Caleb Boy 1 0 2, Seth Butler 1 0 3, Brad Harrison 0 1 1, Adam Goodpaster 12 3 31, John Shepherd 1 0 2, Logan Baker 5 4 16, Steve Summer 1 0 2. Totals: 25-11-69
3-pointers: M 5 (Whiteman 2, King, Limon, Morgan), C 8 (Goodpaster 4, Baker 2, Butler, Moore)
About the Author