Germantown boys use strong second half to beat rival Madison Central
The Germantown boys’ basketball team continued their dominant season with a 57-50 win over region rival Madison Central on Friday night, moving to 15-3 overall and 3-0 in region play.
Germantown was dominant offensively throughout the first quarter, jumping out to a 21-14 lead, but Madison Central answered with a big second quarter to make it a 33-31 Germantown advantage going into the half.
The Mavericks would stretch their lead back up to seven by the end of the third quarter and held onto that advantage to secure the victory.
“It was a big rivalry win for us, but we keep having these lulls in games that we are going to have to get fixed going forward. This is the toughest region in the state so you have to come out with your best effort every night,” Germantown Head Coach Chris Love said. “I think we played a lot better defensively in the second half, after having some lapses and missed assignments and I think that was a big part of this win.”
Germantown boasts one of the state’s most talented rosters and has played one of the toughest non-region schedules you will find in Mississippi high school basketball. So far, the Mavericks have answered the bell, sitting at 15-3 with all three of those losses coming against out of state teams.
“We play such a tough schedule to get us ready for these games and this time of year where everything is going to be close,” Love said. “There’s not going to be any big blowouts, so you have to learn how to grind it out and that’s what we tried to get our team used to that with the schedule we have played.”
Led by brothers Mike and Mason Williams, who are the sons of former NBA All-Star and current Jackson State head basketball Mo Williams, as well as Sam Funches, who is a top-50 nationally ranked recruit in the class of 2026, Germantown is primed to make a run at the school’s first state title in program history.
Mason Williams, who is a junior, led the way for Germantown in the scoring column with 21 points, while Mike Williams, who is a senior committed to play at Jackson State next season, added nine points. Funches also put together a great game in the scoring column and on the boards, adding 16 points on the night.
Madison Central is led by a dynamic duo in Navy commit JP Baldwin and senior guard Dylan Rowe. The duo has been leading this Madison Central team on both ends of the floor all season and Tuesday night was no different, with Baldwin scoring 24 points and Rowe scoring 23 points.
Madison Central now sits at 14-6 overall and 1-2 in region play. Germantown will host Tupelo Friday night, while Madison Central will host Starkville on Friday for each team’s next matchup.