Basketball Recap: Madison Takes a Loss

It's hard to turn regular season success into postseason wins, a fact Madison can now relate to. They were dealt a 78-50 loss at the hands of the Fort Bend Kempner Cougars on Monday. The result was an unpleasant reminder to the Marlins of the 91-53 defeat they experienced in the pair's previous head-to-head fixture back in February of 2024.

De'Andre Columbus

Steals

02/17/25 vs Fort Bend Kempner	5
02/11/25 vs Westbury	5
11/11/24 @ Austin	2

Several Marlins players turned in solid performances despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was De'Andre Columbus, who dropped a double-double with 13 points and 14 boards. With that strong performance, Columbus is now averaging an impressive 2.4 steals per game. Another player making a difference was Anthony Avalos, who dropped a double-double with 14 points and ten rebounds.

Even though they lost, Madison smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 15 offensive rebounds. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Fort Bend Kempner only seven offensive boards.

Ayomide Afolabi went supernova for Fort Bend Kempner, shooting 62% from the field en route to 17 points in addition to seven boards and four steals. Afolabi is on a roll when it comes to steals, as he's now grabbed two or more in each of the last seven games he's played. Isaiah Washington was another key player, going 7-for-10 to rack up 16 points and five rebounds.

The loss snapped Madison's winning streak at four games and leaves them with a 14-11 record. The wins came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 69.3 points over those games. As for Fort Bend Kempner, the win was the fourth in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 18-12.

Madison does not have any more games scheduled as of now. As for Fort Bend Kempner, they wasted no time getting back out on the court and have already played their next matchup, a 63-48 defeat against Weiss on the 21st.