With four teams remaining in 5A Region III, the competition was more than hot Friday night at the Aldine Campbell Center. The two semifinals games featured match ups from Fort Bend and Houston ISD schools.

Madison against Fort Bend Hightower was the first of the double header and it was anything less than a battle. Despite losing the rebounding war, Madison’s defense was a key factor in a 72-65 win in the regional semifinals.

“We had to start playing more aggressive defensively. We came out kind of passive and they were big and killing us inside,” Madison coach Craig Maura said. “So we started pressing on defense and I felt like that would build the confidence and help them realize that they can play with those guys.”

Madison guard Richard Brown felt the same about the Hurricanes lineup.

“We had to box out and hustle because we are small,” Brown said. “At the beginning of the season when we played them we were a little bigger.”

But not tonight. The Hurricanes had the height advantage when it came to matching up one-on-one on both ends of the court that forced the Marlins to spread the floor out more to create shots. And so when Madison big man Jordan Brantley went down in the first quarter, it hurt the Marlins.

But it didn’t slow them down.

“At this point we have dealt with injuries the whole year so we just handle it and go with the flow,” Maura said. “We have to do what we have to do. The kids have really come together and we take things one game at a time.”

Early foul trouble plagued both teams with three of their five starters playing with at least three fouls. Dominique Andrews, who was the Hurricanes’ leading scorer at halftime with nine points, hit a three-pointer at the end of the first half to tie the game up at 32. Madison’s Darryl Toney also had nine points at half.

After half, it was Madison taking control early. Using a small line up, Brown scored eight quick points in transition play. But late in the quarter, Hightower’s Garlon Green got hot from behind the arc while Andrews’ nailed a couple key shots to put a dent in the Marlins’ lead.

Madison still had the advantage after three.

“That’s (transition) a big part of my game. Every single play they are going to double Tommy (Mason-Griffin), so when he drives, I will be right there for the deuce.”

Hightower’s Corey Gray turned it up in the fourth quarter scoring most of his points, but that wasn’t enough as Madison hit capitalized on foul shots late in the game.

Brown led all scorers with 24 points with Mason-Griffin knocking down 17 points. Toney was good for another 14. For Hightower, Andrews scored 17 points while Green and Gray contributed 13 points.

Madison will advance to the regional final and play Fort Bend Dulles at 1 p.m. at the Campbell Center.

Fort Bend Dulles 70, Chavez 42

It didn’t take long for Dulles to set the tone in this one. With a 19-point lead at halftime, the Vikings went on to an easy victory.

“We were really concerned with their quickness so we went to our man defense,” Dulles coach Mike Carrabine said. “They settled for a lot of outside shots which really played to our advantage. They did a great tonight.”

Dre Harrison led the way with 18 points while Adrian Kuyino and Shaun Uneh each had 12 points. For Chavez, Jared Maree had eight points. Jamal Fenton and Michael Randle both had seven.

Carrabine and the Vikings will play Madison at 1 p.m. Saturday in the regional final.

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