Stoughton's senior night will be a memorable one for the four-member Class of 2019 on the Vikings' boys basketball squad, as an Adam Hobson runner with 3.2 seconds left gave them the edge in a 55-53 win over Badger South champion Monona Grove in the final game of the regular season Thursday night.
Hobson, who finished with 23 points, attacked left wing and floated up a shot from left of the lane over two defenders to put Stoughton up 55-53. Caden Nelson's shot off right wing missed for Monona Grove at the buzzer, delivering the Vikings a huge win over their rival heading into the postseason.
In a back-and-forth game, with neither team leading by more than eight points at any juncture, it came down to the two leading scorers in the game at the end. Monona Grove's Nelson had a game-high 27 points, including 19 in the first half, but only three other Silver Eagles recorded a point in the contest.
Coach Nolan Weber said after the game that the win is some vindication for the Vikings, who watched Monona Grove win the conference title a year ago on their home floor with an emphatic dunk to end the contest.
#7 Stoughton opens with a home game against #10 Portage in the playoffs on Tuesday, with the winner traveling to #2 DeForest on Friday. #5 Monona Grove, despite winning the conference title, will face #4 Oregon on Friday night to open up the postseason next week.
STOUGHTON: 31|24=55
MONONA GROVE: 29|24=53
Stoughton Scoring: Adam Hobson 23, Jack Nelson 13, Drew Anderson 9, Zack Burke 3, Nathan Hutcherson 2, Trenten Conklin 2, Luke Fernholz 2, Ethan Skavlen 1.
Monona Grove Scoring: Caden Nelson 27, Sam Hepp 14, Kyle Nett 8, Henry Huston 4.