Boys’ Basketball Outlook Going into State Playoffs
The Madison Boys Basketball team has seen a large amount of success so far this season. They’re currently sitting at 14-8 overall and 6-2 in their division, with the only two division losses coming to Morris Catholic (17-4). The boys also went far in the Morris County Tournament, making it to the quarterfinals after beating Jefferson (15-4) by a score of 77-59 off the backs of Drew Stack, who dropped 30 points, and Daniel Oyedrian, who dropped 21 points. The boys look forward to a few more games before the state playoffs, including Senior Day at home against Newark Academy on the 19th and a tilt against rival Hanover Park on the 22nd, also at home. Speaking of Drew and Dan, they have been some of the Dodgers’ most consistent and electric players throughout the season, and are committed to the University of Portland and Hartwick College, respectively.
Drew is the team’s most consistent three-point shooter, making 76 three-point shots in 21 games so far this year. He has put up multiple 30 point games as well, including dropping 34 points at home against Roxbury on the 8th of February. Stack is averaging just over 19 points per game, dropping 403 points in just 21 games this year. He has been resilient throughout the year, constantly leading the Dodgers in points in almost every game. Due to these elite stats, he was named to the NJSIAA North-South All-Star game, the first Dodger in history to receive this honor. Stack is also on the cusp of reaching 1,000 career points. Going into the Dodgers’ game against Dover on February 17th, Stack has 975 career points, of which he has 194 three-pointers. It is rumored that he is looking to save his 1,000th point for their game against Newark Academy on Saturday afternoon, so it will be exciting to see if he achieves this stat.
While Drew has things covered from the 3-point line, Daniel is a dominant presence in the paint. Oyedrian averages 15 points per game, with 104 two-pointers, 106 rebounds, and 332 points total. Oyedrian is a consistent free throw shooter for the Dodgers as well, hitting 44 of them this year. He was also featured on Morris-Sussex Sports for one of his dunks against Whippany Park and has had some nice dunks in plenty of other games this season. He has had some electric performances, along with Drew, to help contribute to the Dodgers’ success so far this season.
The third-leading scorer for the Dodgers is Tomasso Maher, who has seen a lot of improvement and has dropped 164 points this season with 67 rebounds and 22 free throws. He is a consistent two-way player who is an important part of the Dodgers’ transitioning on the court. The others in the starting 5 include Sean Mariani and Carson Pacheco, who are important parts of the team’s success as well.
The boys have a lot of momentum going into the tail end of the season, and their state playoffs start on the 28th against Lyndhurst. Go Dodgers and remember to pull up to their Senior Day on Saturday against Newark Academy!