MADISON - The shoe was on the other foot for the Monroe boys' basketball squad Friday afternoon.
A season removed from not being able to miss against Seymour, the Cheesemakers couldn't buy buckets from long range and ran into the underdog that could in New Berlin Eisenhower for a season-ending 53-49 in the WIAA Division 2 state semifinals at the Kohl Center.
Monroe shot an uncharacteristic 34.7 percent for the game.
Monroe (23-3) opened the game on a 10-4 run sparked by five straight Mitch Tordoff points and a 3-pointer from Jake Gross, but the Lions reeled the Cheesemakers back in and only trailed 10-8 after the first quarter.
Cheesemakers' center Tony Cates scored and was fouled by Jim Root on the right block with 5:20 left in the second quarter and hit his free throw to give Monroe a 15-12 lead.
Lions Alex Krzykowski and Mike Hojnacki had answers, however and seized the momentum heading into halftime. A Krzykowski runner started a 13-4 run over the last five minutes of the first half.
The 6-7 Hojnacki - a first team Woodland All-Conference player - showed sharp court vision and passed from the backcourt to Kryzkowski for a layin. Root drilled a 3-pointer and a minute later Hojnacki showed his range and stepped out for a 3-pointer to make it 22-17 with 3:11 to go. Two minutes later, the Lions' focal point got separation on the left block and Tordoff was whistled for a foul as the ball hit twine. Hojnacki hit his freebie. A pair of free throws from freshman Bryan Tordoff made it a six-point halftime deficit at 25-19.
Monroe head coach Pat Murphy was surprised in Eisenhower's demeanor and confidence considering the school hadn't been at the state tournament since 1981.
"It felt like to us that we were on our heels most of the game," Murphy said. "I would've thought that they would be on their heels a little bit since we were here last year. It just felt that we were out of sync a little bit.
"Stuff that we normally don't do they had us doing."
Down 42-33 with 4:32 left in the game, the freshman Tordoff buried back-to-back 3-pointers within 19 seconds to get the Cheesemakers back from the brink. Senior Brett Stangel - who had a Division 2 state record 33 points last year versus Seymour - had 10 fourth-quarter points, none bigger than a top-of-the-key triple with 2:56 left to cut the Lions' lead to 44-42.
Eisenhower showed its resiliency once again as the Cheesemakers were forced to play the foul-and-chase game. The Lions went 9-for-11 from the free-throw line down the stretch with Kevin Marr going 5-of-6 after coming in at 61 percent on the season.
"Stuff like that ... it's just their time," Monroe senior Matt Turek said.
A season removed from not being able to miss against Seymour, the Cheesemakers couldn't buy buckets from long range and ran into the underdog that could in New Berlin Eisenhower for a season-ending 53-49 in the WIAA Division 2 state semifinals at the Kohl Center.
Monroe shot an uncharacteristic 34.7 percent for the game.
Monroe (23-3) opened the game on a 10-4 run sparked by five straight Mitch Tordoff points and a 3-pointer from Jake Gross, but the Lions reeled the Cheesemakers back in and only trailed 10-8 after the first quarter.
Cheesemakers' center Tony Cates scored and was fouled by Jim Root on the right block with 5:20 left in the second quarter and hit his free throw to give Monroe a 15-12 lead.
Lions Alex Krzykowski and Mike Hojnacki had answers, however and seized the momentum heading into halftime. A Krzykowski runner started a 13-4 run over the last five minutes of the first half.
The 6-7 Hojnacki - a first team Woodland All-Conference player - showed sharp court vision and passed from the backcourt to Kryzkowski for a layin. Root drilled a 3-pointer and a minute later Hojnacki showed his range and stepped out for a 3-pointer to make it 22-17 with 3:11 to go. Two minutes later, the Lions' focal point got separation on the left block and Tordoff was whistled for a foul as the ball hit twine. Hojnacki hit his freebie. A pair of free throws from freshman Bryan Tordoff made it a six-point halftime deficit at 25-19.
Monroe head coach Pat Murphy was surprised in Eisenhower's demeanor and confidence considering the school hadn't been at the state tournament since 1981.
"It felt like to us that we were on our heels most of the game," Murphy said. "I would've thought that they would be on their heels a little bit since we were here last year. It just felt that we were out of sync a little bit.
"Stuff that we normally don't do they had us doing."
Down 42-33 with 4:32 left in the game, the freshman Tordoff buried back-to-back 3-pointers within 19 seconds to get the Cheesemakers back from the brink. Senior Brett Stangel - who had a Division 2 state record 33 points last year versus Seymour - had 10 fourth-quarter points, none bigger than a top-of-the-key triple with 2:56 left to cut the Lions' lead to 44-42.
Eisenhower showed its resiliency once again as the Cheesemakers were forced to play the foul-and-chase game. The Lions went 9-for-11 from the free-throw line down the stretch with Kevin Marr going 5-of-6 after coming in at 61 percent on the season.
"Stuff like that ... it's just their time," Monroe senior Matt Turek said.