Dallas Madison plays big on the boards as Trojans return to state championship game

Dallas Madison didn’t shoot very well during its Class 3A state semifinal against Wichita Falls City View on Thursday.

But what the Trojans lacked in shooting, they made up in rebounds and second-chance points.

Madison out rebounded City View 55-24, including 29-7 on the offensive glass to push the Trojans to a 69-62 win at the Alamodome.

Madison (36-7) will play San Antonio Cole (31-8) for the 3A state championship at 10 a.m. on Saturday.

Cole won the state title last season and Madison won in 2019. Both schools made the trip to state in 2020 before COVID canceled the tournament.

Madison beat Cole in the state semifinals in 2019.

The Trojans didn’t lead until the 1:21 mark of the first quarter when Latrelle Wright hit a three-point jumper that made it 17-14. Madison used a 9-0 run to go up 21-14 before leading 21-16 after one.

Pierre Hunter’s layup and two free throws pushed the Madison lead to 31-19 with 3:18 left in the second quarter.

Free throws by Wright and a Rodney Geter tip-in just before the break sent the Trojans into halftime with a 40-26 advantage.

The lead grew to 18 at 55-37 on a Brandon Patterson three with 46 seconds left in the third. Madison took a 55-39 lead into the fourth.

The Trojans were up 17 with 6:46 to play when City View made its run. City View scored the next eight points to cut the deficit to 60-51 with just over five minutes remaining.

Geter and Leonard Miles IV helped push the Madison lead back to 14 with 2:50 on the clock. City View pulled within 64-59 on a Kendrick Gibson Jr. dunk with 1:04 left. Christopher Whitten got it within 67-62 on a pair of free throws before Miles hit two attempts to seal the deal.

Madison had a 28-6 advantage in second-chance points. Geter scored 24 points on 9 of 13 shooting to go with 16 rebounds. Miles added 10 points and 13 rebounds.