Dallas Madison head coach Gerald Smith didn’t have to say much after halftime.
The top-ranked team in Class 3A eventually beat No. 9 Brownfield 78-71 to advance to its 21st state appearance, but it led by just three heading into the break in only the second competitive game for the team since December.
After the players came back from the locker room and hit the court, Smith asked them a simple question: “Do you want this to be the last two quarters?”
“And I just left it there,” Smith said. “I coach these guys but it’s about them. They’re the ones out there playing, and my job is to not mess it up.”
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Madison went on to open a double-digit lead in the third period, outsourcing Brownfield 21-13. Although the close game was unfamiliar for Madison, Brownfield was used to it after knocking off Shallowater by scoring five points in the final two seconds of the regional final last week.
Madison’s last two games against Brownfield and Texarkana Liberty-Eylau were the first decided by single digits since the team’s 55-52 loss to Episcopal School of Dallas on Dec. 30. Madison beat No. 11 Liberty-Eylau 82-76 in the regional final.
“One thing we talked about going into games, it’s about the person that’s in that jersey,” Smith said. “When you’re No. 1, everybody’s going to play you harder than they ever played anybody else before, because they want to beat you. When you’re the No. 1 team in the state, everybody’s giving you their best and they’re not trying to give you the second-best they’re going to play.”
Smith credits Madison’s rigorous nondistrict schedule as reason for their composure in close games the last two rounds.
After running through District 9-3A and winning by an average of 35 points, Madison had to look back to early-season games against bigger programs such as Cedar Hill, Little Elm and Carter for the last time they’d faced on-court adversity.
“That was what led us to where we are right now, everybody just bought into doing their job and just playing hard,” Smith said. “We live by three words this year: effort, energy, everybody. One thing about effort and energy is everybody has to do that playing here.”
Another question Smith asks his players every round is if they want to practice tomorrow. The only way to do that is to keep winning.
“When we faced adversity, we just kept pushing through,” junior Josiah Cobb said. “It wasn’t easy going into them games, but all the work we put in all year long paid off in them games. That’s why I thought we got the win.
“It’s cool because there’s a state championship culture over here and it’s great to be a part of it. I can say I’m going to state like everybody else did.”
Madison will play No. 6 Orangefield for the 3A Division I state championship at 11 a.m. Friday at the Alamodome in San Antonio.