The Madison boys basketball team hung on in the final minutes for a wild 84-80 win over Dakota Valley on Friday night. The Bulldogs came out on a torrid start, scoring 27 points in the 1st quarter for a 27-14 lead. That lead lasted only halfway through the 2nd quarter, as the Panthers put up 30 points in the quarter, for a 44-39 lead. The teams then traded the lead throughout the 3rd, before Madison built up a 10 point lead in the 4th quarter. The Panthers trimmed that to 2 points with just seconds left, but Keaton Nighbert and Tyler Tappe hit enough free throws in the final seconds to seal the win. The Bulldogs improved to 13-5 with the win, while the Panthers are now 15-4.

 

Dakota Valley won the girls game of the doubleheader, hanging on for a 67-64 over Madison. The Panthers scored the first 8 points of the game, and led 36-24 at halftime. Madison got the game back to single digits early in the 4th quarter, and pulled as close as one point in the final seconds but couldn’t hit a basket to take the lead. 

Kendra Leighton finished with 21 points in the loss, a day after setting the school’s single game scoring record. The Madison girls are now 8-11, and wrap up the regular season on Tuesday in Milbank.Â