MCM Outlasts Madison In Class A SoDak 16 Qualifier

It was a solid clash on Thursday night in Region 5A Girls Basketball as number one seed McCook Central/Montrose was pushed all game long by number five seed Madison, before ultimately winning 77-68 in Salem. The first quarter was fairly tight with the Lady Bulldogs answering buckets from the Fighting Cougars. MCM would use an 8-0 run to begin the second quarter to take a 21-12 lead.  Madison answered with a 7-0 run and after a McCook three-pointer, MHS ended the first half on a 11-6 run. 

Tied at 30’s coming out of the break, the host Fighting Cougars once again started on a run to begin the quarter, jumping out to a 41-30 advantage. Slowly the Lady Bulldogs crept back into the contest throughout the third, trailing 52-48 after three. McCook Central continued to pound away in the final frame, pushing their lead to double-digits a few times. The visiting Lady Bulldogs pulled within seven points under a minute left but could not get over the hump. 

Jacy Pulse led all scorers with 27 points in the game, while Zoey Garry led Madison with 24 points in the game. MHS ended their season with a 10-12 record on the year, while MCM improved to 17-4 and advanced to the SoDak 16 on Monday. They will match up with Aberdeen Roncalli at the Huron Arena. 

Pulse went over 1,000 points in her career during the game and after doing so a time-out was called to honor her. With a packed crowd in Salem, both sides giving a standing ovation – creating a very cool moment for Pulse and a great show of sportsmanship from the Bulldog faithful.