Madison outlasts Stanton in overtime thriller

STANTON - Despite a buzzer-beater to tie the game and a hostile road environment, the Madison Dragons came out on top in a battle with the Stanton Mustangs 53-48 in overtime.

The Dragons came into Tuesday night trying to defeat the Mustangs for the first time since 2019 and the game started exactly how Madison wanted it to.

A three-pointer to start the game, plus multiple defensive stops to allow more offensive opportunities allowed the Dragons to jump out to a 14-2 first quarter lead.

Stanton began to rally in the second quarter behind Owen Vogel's 7 points in the quarter, plus a pair of three's from Joe Butterfield and Barrett Wilke.

At the half, Madison led 21-15.

The Mustangs continued to chip away at the lead, eventually overtaking the Dragons for the first time after outscoring Madison 17-3 in the third quarter.

Madison found its footing again in the fourth, behind a pair of Diego Gastelum three's, plus Jeremiah Sanchez finding open shots on the floor.

With only a few seconds left and a three-point lead, Gastelum had a pair of free throws to potentially ice the game, but after missing both, the Mustang's Mitchell Hupp was sent to the charity stripe after being fouled.

Down by three point with only 3.8 seconds and two free throws upcoming for Stanton, Hupp missed the first shot and had to intentionally miss the second freebie for a chance tor rebound the ball.

Hupp hit the rim and after a rebound, passed the ball to Joe Butterfield who nailed a three to send the home crowd into a frenzy and launch the game into overtime.

In overtime, Madison wasn't fazed. The Dragons overcame the momentum and plowed their way to a massive 53-48 win at home over Stanton.

Jeremiah Sanchez played an impressive game, scoring 20 points with 4 rebounds in the win. Diego Gastelum notched 14 points for the Dragons as well.

In the tough Stanton loss, Barrett Wilke put up 17 points, Owen Vogel had 13  points and 12 rebounds while Joe Butterfield finished with 12 points, 11 rebounds and an exciting buzzer-beater despite the defeat.

Madison improves to 9-5 on the year, while Stanton falls to 4-10.