For our girls basketball notes this week (which will run each Thursday in the Morning Sentinel and Kennebec Journal), I talked to Madison coach Al Veneziano. Here's a preview of the article.

Madison was one of the favorites in Western C from the outset last season, and ended up winning the regional title. After two games this season, the Bulldogs look like a team of scrappers who will be better than most people expected.
Madison lost most of last season's roster to graduation, but opened the season with a win over Boothbay and a five-point loss to Dirigo.

"I'm very, very optimistic about the first couple of games," Madison coach Al Veneziano said. "Defensively, we've worked very hard. Our offense is coming, but it's a work in progress. I think certainly, if we play the level that we've been playing at, we can compete."

Junior Ali Russell is averaging 17 points per game, and senior Cecile Thibodeau $ Madison's tallest player at 5 foot 8 $ had 17 points against Boothbay. Veneziano said both players have shown considerable improvement this season.

Madison has its bye early, so the Bulldogs won't play again until Monday, when they have a road game against Carrabec. Veneziano said this time of the year is almost like preseason anyway, so there's still teaching to be done.

"We're working on the fundamentals of the game," Veneziano said. "These kids have accepted a challenge. They've come out and worked hard and wanted to show that they can play at a high level. It shows what kind of kids they are."

You can read the entire notebook in Thursday's Morning Sentinel, and a notebook for Augusta-area teams by Travis Barrett in Thursday's Kennebec Journal.