Lady Dogs take down Vermillion 52-48

Posted on Tuesday, December 21, 2010

By ARIY-EL BOYNTON, Sports Editor

Not only did the Madison Lady Bulldogs earn their first win on the road on Monday night in Vermillion, they also moved to 2-0 in the Big-8 Conference with a 52-48 victory over the Lady Tanagers.

Madison defeated Big-8 rival Lennox on Thursday at the Madison Middle School.

On Monday, the Lady Dogs played in a very tight contest, which went right down to the wire.

Madison was down 48-46 with 1:20 left in the game. Junior Bailey Milne made a basket and was fouled. Her free throw was no good, but Mikayla McNary secured an offensive rebound and got the put-back. She was also awarded a free throw because of a Vermillion foul and made the shot to put Madison up by three.

On the next possession, Vermillion tied the game with a 3-pointer with a minute to go. Christa Paul made Madison's third consecutive bucket and a free throw due to a foul. Madison held on and won the game by four points.

"Basketball is a team game, and it takes an entire team to earn a win, but Mikayla played very well tonight. She did a good job of getting into the gaps of the Vermillion zone defense and made some key plays down the stretch," said Madison Coach Mat Nelson.

"Whether it is in practice or in a game, one of our primary goals is to learn and improve every day," said Nelson. "Tonight we made plays down the stretch and were able to gain some valuable late-game situational experience. We are far from reaching our full potential, but tonight was another positive step for us."

Madison opened the game with a 16-10 lead. At halftime, MHS held a strong 29-18 lead.

"Offensively, we played very well in the first half," said Nelson. "We were able to break the press, score in transition when the opportunities presented themselves, and we also executed well in the half court."

In the early going, Lennox wasn't very effective against the Lady Dogs' defense. Madison was able to use strong guard play to hold a lot of momentum going into the third quarter.

"Defensively, we were able to pressure them at times with our full-court defense and forced many turnovers. On the offensive side, we are still working toward limiting our turnovers on a consistent basis. We really did a good job of breaking their pressure, but in the half court we committed a few unforced turnovers," said Nelson.

Vermillion's Lexi Regnerus scored nine points from behind the 3-point arc in both the third and fourth quarters. Regnerus, who finished with a game-high 22 points, was able to cut Madison's lead to 36-35.

Vermillion (0-2) was helped by Val Robinson's eight points.

"Regnerus made some huge shots in the second half to keep them in the game," said Nelson. "Vermillion made a great run in the second half, but to our credit, we were able to stay composed and execute down the stretch to earn the win."

McNary was the leading scorer for Madison with 17 points; she added five rebounds and two assists. Milne contributed 12 points, six rebounds, four assists and four steals. Christa Paul had a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds.

Madison (2-1) will take on Dell Rapids on Dec. 31 in Brookings as part of the boys' Entringer Classic at 11:45 a.m. Madison and Dell Rapids were scheduled to play on Dec. 11, but that was called off due to severe weather. Madison is unable to play on Dec. 23, which is the makeup day for the girls' Entringer Classic.

"We are excited for the opportunity to play in the Entringer Classic next Friday," said Nelson. "It will be a little different for us to play at 11:30 in the morning, but we are confident the girls will prepare themselves for a focused effort."

©Madison Daily Leader 2010