The beginning and end of the basketball game were good for the Yorktown Patriots in a comeback victory over the Madison Warhawks.
In between, Yorktown struggled, shooting poorly and turning the ball over in falling behind by as many as 14 points before its eventual 63-60 win in the boys high-school contest Friday night (Dec. 6) at Woodson High School.
Behind more pressure defense, the Patriots regrouped in the fourth quarter to outscore Madison 21-9 in the stanza.
“I’m not sure how we won that game,” Yorktown coach Joe Keimig said. “We put more pressure on them in the fourth quarter that created turnovers, we took better care of the ball and hit some big shots.”
Yorktown took the lead for good at 61-60 with 41 seconds to play on a follow shot by Austin Barbieri off a Jack Rubin miss. Jacob Coulam then made two foul shots with 1.6 seconds left. A half-court running three-pointer at the buzzer by Madison’s Hobbes Fiel missed and Yorktown had its second win of the young season.
Yorktown’s Nicholas Senkus (14 points, two assists) made two of his four three-pointers in the fourth quarter. Barbieri (13 points, six rebounds) also made a three and scored seven points in the final period, and Brennan Pilot (14 points, five rebounds) added four points in the frame.
The Patriots were six of six from the foul line in the final period and were 6 of 9 shooting from the floor.
James Davis scored eight points and had four rebounds off the bench for Yorktown, Coulam had seven points and five assists, and Rubin had five points and four boards.
The lead changed five times in the fourth quarter and three times in the first, when Madison led 19-11 at period’s end. The Warhawks were ahead 34-25 at halftime and 51-42 after three periods.
“They made some adjustments in the fourth quarter, and we made some mistakes and had turnovers,” Madison coach Kevin Roller said.
Yorktown’s other win was over the Centreville Wildcats, 72-39, with Rubin, Barbieri and Pilot among the scoring leaders. The Patriots came out strong, making multiple three-pointers in the first period.
“We shot well and kept that up the whole game,” Keimig said.
