Taylor, Davis Provide Young Leadership for Dodgers

Successful high school sports programs frequently rely on the experience and developed talent of seniors to provide the critical leadership needed to push their teams toward greater glory. But this year, has seen a freshman step forward to play important minutes for the Lady Dodgers basketball team, while a junior continues to make his mark in a landmark season for Dodgers wrestling.

• Margy Taylor
• Girls Basketball
• Freshman

Early in the season Madison head coach Stephen Finkelstein expressed his excitement about watching forward Margy Taylor develop as a key part of the future of girls basketball.

On Thursday, Taylor gave everyone a preview of things to come as she played a significant role in Madison’s 38-28 win over Dover High in Dover.

The Madison freshman, who saw considerable first-half minutes in place of an injured Mackenzie Ellis, was fierce under the hoop, battling to grab a team-high seven rebounds while also adding eight points, three blocks, two steals and an assist.

While Taylor put together an impressive stat line—especially considering the bulk of her minutes came in the first half—some of Taylor’s contributions to the Dodgers' eighth win of the season didn't necessarily show up in the box score.

Defensively, the first-year varsity player was a presence inside, helping Madison tame an extremely physical Dover attack. Taylor and the Dodger’s defense were so good that they held Dover to just six points in the second and third quarters combined.

"Margy was good today," Finkelstein said afterward. "It was a very physical game and you have to give Margy a lot of credit. She played really well in that first half. She gave everything she had."

• Patsy Davis
• Wrestling
• Junior

Patsy Davis’ aptitude on the wrestling mat has never been questioned. As a junior, Davis leads his teams in wins, has gone undefeated in dual meets, and has reached the finals of each tournament in which he has competed.

Last week Madison fans saw a whole lot of the same as the 119-pounder not only helped the Dodgers to their first conference title in five years with a 36-34 win over Parsippany High, but also went on to win his first-ever District 10 title.

Davis, who has fashioned an imposing 33-3 record this season, made easy work of his district competition at Millburn High School over the weekend, cruising to the championship with wins over Dylan Pollock of Millburn and Seton Hall’s Nick Polimeni.

In his first match Davis stopped Pollock in the first period, moving him into his second consecutive District 10 finals appearance.

In the finals the dependable Dodger was again overpowering as he handled Polimeni, 9-2 , becoming the lone District 10 title winner for his third-place Madison squad. Davis' three losses this season had all come in finals.

"I thought Patsy looked pretty impressive, really solid," Madison head coach Steve Healey said on Saturday. "He's been very tentative in the finals this year, this is his first finals win of the season, and something that we definitely said he needs to do, was be very aggressive and I think he looked good today."