Finley BB Game Pits
Brother vs. Brother
It wasn’t a WNBA championship game, but it took on the atmosphere of one. When the J. Taylor Finley and Candlewood middle school girls’ basketball teams met on a recent afternoon there was more on the line than winning a game. Bragging rights in the Madden family were up for grabs.
Tim Madden coaches Finley and Kyle Madden is Candlewood’s court mentor. The two brothers are competitive with one another and they coached their respective hearts out before a crowd that appreciated what was at stake.
Finley led 10-0 after the first period as seventh grade point guard Sydney Taylor put on a dazzling display, scoring six points. Candlewood rebounded in the second frame, going on an 11-4 run to cut the Falcons lead to 14-11.
Finley regrouped and outscored Candlewood 16-0 in the third period. Amber Stieve dropped in six points for the Falcons, who took a commanding 30-11 lead. Candlewood again stormed back, this time blanking Finley 10-0 in the fourth frame to narrow the visitor’s deficit to 30-21.
In the fifth and final period (middle school rules allow for five periods so more players can get on the court), the teams played almost even, with Candlewood edging Finley, 11-10. When the final buzzer sounded, Finley claimed a most satisfying 40-32 victory.
Taylor led all scorers with 15 points, including three free throw baskets in the last period to ice the game for the Falcons. Stieve had 10 points. Neive Condon added four points and Ava Lembeck contributed three points. Megan Bacik, Afroditi Mountanous, Serina Aguirre and Keyani Artwell scored two points each.
“I was very proud of our defensive effort,” Tim Madden said. “Nicole Abbondondolo, Amber Stieve and Bella Annunziata were relentless, diving on the floor for loose balls and grabbing rebounds.”
The Madden brothers pulled out all the stops to gain an edge for their respective squad. Substitutions, strategic time-outs, pep talks, innovative offensive and defensive schemes; you name it, the two coaches tried it.
“Offensively, we passed the ball very well, especially when Candlewood ran a 1-2-2 half court zone,” Tim Madden said. Finley’s players were up for the challenge and knew how much winning the game meant to their coach.
After serving on a varsity staff for many years, the Madden brothers both started coaching on the middle school level this winter. “When he told me he was coaching the girls’ team for Candlewood a while back, it was a schedule date I was looking forward to,” Tim Madden said about the recent meeting between the teams.
“It was an intense game,” Tim Madden said. “It reminded me of when we faced off in 2003/04, when we both coached JV boys’ basketball.” After the recent game ended, Kyle Madden complimented his brother on how “tough” the Finley girls played.
The electric atmosphere in the Finley gym made the victory even more exciting for the Falcon players.