The voices of experience

Ben Breeden has been where Madison County is trying to go. So has Mike Styles and, actually, so has Jeff Early.

And they all did it in a Mountaineer uniform.

See, when unbeaten Madison takes the floor tonight against Northampton in the Group AA Division 2 quarterfinals, not a single player for the Mountaineers will have any state tournament experience.

But there’s more of that on the Madison bench than any team could realistically ask for.

The Mountaineers’ trio of varsity assistant coaches — Breeden, Styles and Early — played on three different state championship or state runner-up squads at different times during Madison’s storied basketball history. And because of that, they’ve helped provide some clear facts and lessons for Madison’s players to go with head coach Tim Taylor’s lofty aspirations.

“I can’t even describe [how important they’ve been],” said Taylor, a former Madison player himself. “When I was creating this vision of being a state championship contender, they could tell the kids the stories of what it was like when they played and what they went through because they had been there. We had this vision and we had a history to back it up.”

That’s no accident. When Taylor, then at Orange County, first started discussing the Madison position with athletic director Phil Warren, he laid out Early, Styles and Breeden — who was already in the program — as his dream staff. He needed three coaches who were strong-willed, could serve as solid role models and were intensely competitive — all three fit the bill. Only one pitfall remained.

“I didn’t know if they would go for it,” Taylor said.

They did, and it’s paid off big for Taylor and the Region B champion Mountaineers (27-0). The group complements each other well, with each providing a different perspective. Breeden, who played on the 1996 state runner-up squad as a shooting guard and works in Madison’s system as an elementary school teacher, gives the Mountaineers a big-picture, strategic approach that can help in all facets of the game. He can also provide a tangible lesson about taking care of fundamentals and protecting the ball.

That 1996 squad lost to Northumberland High in the final in overtime largely because of turnovers and some missed free throws near the end of regulation that could have put Madison on top.

“Those are things that we stress to these kids every day,” Breeden said. “All I can think about with that game is the missed opportunities.”

Breeden said he owns the tape of that game, but he’s never watched it. But he’s starting to see the most desirable traits of that 1996 squad in Madison’s current crop of stars — a team that’s still developing because most of the squad’s core, including David Falk, Logan Terrell, Jerel Carter and Casey Campbell, are juniors.

“Our senior year, we passed the ball well together and we understood where everybody was going to be,” Breeden said. “These kids are slowly getting there and when that happens you’ve really got to watch out — I don’t even know if you’ve seen the best basketball they can play yet.”

Styles is an insurance adjuster and a member of the only basketball state championship squad in Madison’s history, the 1977 team. He took the helm at both point guard and quarterback for the Mountaineers after Early graduated in 1974 and won state titles in both sports during his career.

“He started the next year as a sophomore, took my place at quarterback and point guard,” Early said. “He did a great job.”

Styles gives the Mountaineers a defensive-minded presence on the bench, and he also knows something about taking advantage of opportunities when they present themselves. He and his Madison teammates and coaches back in 1977 watched their opponent in the championship game, J.J. Kelly, play multiple overtimes in the semifinals — at University Hall, with no air conditioning.

“We knew we were going to come out there, run and apply as much pressure as we could,” Styles said. “We were able to do it and it was a pretty decisive victory for us.”

That’s an understatement. Madison rolled to an 83-56 victory over J.J. Kelly that night.

Early, who works as a lawyer and serves as the chairman of the Madison County school board, gives the Mountaineers a technician, a coach who is able to focus on and illuminate the finer points, particularly on the offensive end. Early played on the 1974 runner-up squad that lost by just a point to Powell Valley in the title game.

That squad started at 1-3 and ripped off more than 20 wins in a row before falling to Powell Valley, a feat that required intense dedication and a sense of where the team was headed, both traits he sees reflected in the 2009 edition of the Mountaineers.

“There are some similarities in work ethic,” Early said. “And this team, from the very beginning their goal has been to win a state championship. When we played back in the 1970s, the goal was always to win a state championship.”

That remains the goal in 2009, and now just three games separate the Mountaineers (27-0) from a second basketball state title, starting with today’s 6 p.m. tilt against Northampton.

“This is Tim’s vision — he put this together,” Early said. “He approached [Styles] and myself who weren’t a part of the system, and I was just glad to be a part of it and be asked to contribute to it.”

“He wanted to create an atmosphere of winning.”

Mission accomplished — in large part because of the winners Taylor put on his staff.