Cardinals in the Garden

Madison Park beats Brockton in OT

DORCHESTER — Four quarters wasn’t enough to decide this one as top-seeded Madison Park gave up a 19-point halftime edge before holding on to defeat No. 4 Brockton on Tuesday night in the Division 1 South semifinals.

Check out Patrick O’Connor’s slide show from the game.

Senior center David Campbell collected a game-high 20 points along with 11 rebounds in the Cardinals 77-72 overtime victory at BC High — sending Madison Park to Friday night’s North sectional finals against Mansfield at TD Garden.

“I knew it had to come down to me, I had to hit my shots and layups,” said the 6-foot-5-inch senior with a big smile on his face. “First half I wasn’t into the game but I kept playing. Second half I stepped it up and started to hit some buckets.”

Madison Park (20-1) began overtime on a 10-0 run only to watch the Boxers responded with a 9-0 run of their own. Led by senior guard Kyle Houston’s clutch free throws  the Boxer’s got within one, 73-72, with 41.6 seconds to play.

But Madison Park was also clutch from the line in the final moments, going 4-for-4 from the stripe as senior guard Tyler Tettus’ free throws put the Cardinals up 75-72 with 38.1 to play. Senior guard Kevin Stokes also knocked down a pair to ice the game with 10.1 remaining.

“We played like warriors,” MP coach Denis Wilson said. “I’m on top of cloud nine right now, I’m just overjoyed. … I’m so proud of my kids. We found a way to win, blood and guts, MP character, MP pride.”

Trailing 41-22 at the break, the Boxers (17-4) scratched and clawed their way back into the game. A pair of free throws by senior guard Leonardo Medina tied the game 61-61 with 48.5 seconds left. Two Madison Park turnovers on consecutive possessions gave Brockton a chance to win it but Medina’s pull up jumper rimmed out as time expired.

“These kids deserve to go to the Garden,” Wilson said. “This was a goal of ours and it started in March.”

Jamie Rosa is a junior football player at South Boston High. He can be reached at biglui14@gmail.com.