MADISON — On Tuesday night, the Mt. Abram and Madison boys basketball teams were set to meet in a battle of unbeatens, a clash of two of the best teams in the Mountain Valley Conference.

In just eight minutes, the Roadrunners put away any hope for a hardwood classic.

Thanks to a 31-point first quarter, Mt. Abram rolled to a 79-28 win. Junior guard Bryce Wilcox led the Roadrunners (8-0) with 23 points, while senior guard Payton Mitchell had 19 points. With the win, Mt. Abram is No. 2 in Class C South, trailing only Richmond (9-0) in the standings.

Cam Grey added 13 points, while Killian Pillsbury had 11 points for the Roadrunners.

Ethan Linkletter led Madison (6-1) with eight points and five rebounds and Deacon Murray added seven points.

A suffocating press defense — Mt. Abram forced 31 turnovers — and fast break offense secured the win for the Roadrunners. The Bulldogs had 10 turnovers in the first quarter alone and the Roadrunners capitalized on the offensive end. Wilcox scored 12 of his 23 points in the first quarter, while Grey added eight. Mt. Abram ended the first period with a 31-9 lead.

Madison’s Charles Davis (5) looks for a passing lane around Mt. Abram’s Andrew Rother during a boys basketball game Monday in Madison. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

“Maine Basketball Rankings, we looked at their post (online) today and it said (the matchup) was (an offensive team vs. a defensive team),” Mt. Abram head coach John Chase said. “I told our guys, ‘Hey, let’s work on defense tonight. Think defense, defense, defense.’ I’m entirely happy with that win.”

“We came out gunning on defense, because we’ve heard we’re more of an offensive team, so we wanted to make a statement,” Wilcox said. “We’re a transition team (offensively), we really get out and run the floor, put the ball up ahead. And our press (defense) causes turnovers, and turnovers lead to transition. That’s what we like.”

From that point, it was smooth sailing for the Roadrunners, who never allowed the Bulldogs to tally double-digit points in any quarter. With the game securely in hand, Mt. Abram removed its starters midway through the fourth quarter.

“Mt. Abram is, in my mind, the team to beat in Class C,” Madison head coach Jason Furbush said. “I knew going in that we’d have to play perfect. They are the team to beat and we just need to get better every day.

“We hadn’t faced a press defense like that this year,” Furbush continued. “Not nearly anything like that. We need to work on it more. And anything Abram does in a game, you can’t replicate in practice, so that makes it tough.”

Linkletter, a junior forward, was a lone bright spot for the Bulldogs, scoring six of his eight points in the first half while using his 6-5 frame to battle on the boards all evening. Madison is No. 3 in the C South standings.

Mt. Abram is averaging 75.8 points per game and has scored under 60 points just once this season, a 57-47 win over Valley on Dec. 12.

“Everybody in our starting five can get double-digit (points),” Wilcox said. “We just put up really big numbers on the scoreboard.”

“We just take it one game at a time, but this is a special group of guys,” Chase said. “I feel like they love each other and are doing great stuff (on the floor).”

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