BRODHEAD - In a game that featured four of the area's best post players Tuesday, the defending state champion Monroe girls basketball team stopped a two-game losing streak with a 51-43 win over Brodhead.
The Cheesemakers' Ashley Hermanson and Jamie Armstrong combined for 27 points, while Kristen Ruchti and Dana Lewis scored 21 for the Cardinals.
"We don't see that very often," Monroe head coach Kevin Keen said of seeing Brodhead's two six-footers take on his pair of six-footers. "I thought we did a good job against them. Jamie and Ashley both weren't afraid to go in and challenge them."
Guard play and outside shooting also played a factor in the outcome - Monroe had five 3-pointers to Brodhead's four. But the game likely was decided by who was - and wasn't - on the court at the end of the game.
The first quarter seemed to go the Cardinals' way. Brodhead got a pair of 3-pointers from Cassie Wymer and Courtney Mielke to take a 10-4 lead with 3 minutes, 29 seconds left to play in the opening quarter. By the end of the period, Brodhead led 12-6.
From there, Keen's Cheesemakers righted the ship after back-to-back losses to Sauk Prairie and Madison Edgewood.
Gwen Sutter drained a 3-pointer to open the second and Kyleigh Sellnow drove the lane to trim the lead to one. Hermanson followed with a jump shot to give Monroe the lead just two minutes into the period.
The two teams slugged it out over the next three minutes, changing leads four times.
Monroe took its final lead with 2:33 left in the half when Morgan Kennison hit her second consecutive 3-pointer, giving the Cheesemakers a 21-18 lead.
"Morgan Kennison came in and hit two big 3s. That gave us the jump-start we needed," Keen said. "And she has the capability of doing that."
Monroe upped its lead to 25-18 until the winding seconds of the half.
Wymer drove the right baseline and hit a tough layup for Brodhead. She collided with a couple of Cheesemakers on the play, and went down hard with a twisted ankle. The officials didn't stop play with just five seconds left in the half, but the Cardinals held Monroe scoreless with just four players on defense. Wymer finally was helped off the court during halftime and didn't see any action in the second half.
"Defensively it was a really big deal to lose Cassie. She's as quick as they come and defensively she really locks people up," Brodhead coach Chris Medenwaldt said.
Medenwaldt said Wymer likely will miss a week, a huge blow to a Cardinals team that had won seven straight games before Tuesday.
The Cardinals came out hot in the second half. Ruchti found Lewis in the paint for an early hoop and put four more points in during the first 2:29 of the second half, trimming Monroe's lead to 27-26.
The Cheesemakers then used a pressure defense and solid free throw shooting to ring off 10 straight points and seemingly put the game away.
By the close of the third quarter, Monroe led 40-30 and Brodhead was having trouble on the perimeter. Courtney Mielke picked up her fourth foul just minutes into the second half and Alyssa Harding picked up her fourth with 5:16 left to play. Mielke fouled out with 4:48 left, and Harding followed suit just 28 seconds later.
"All of that was (Monroe). They've got some good guards and can take you baseline," Medenwaldt said.
Brodhead was forced to enter the final four minutes without its three starting guards and trailing 46-33.
"We had some silly mistakes, but that goes with who we are playing," Medenwaldt added. "That's a state-caliber team. They're state champs until someone proves otherwise."
The Cardinals had one last push in them. Leah Hegi hit a 3-pointer with 1:56 left and Ruchti followed with a turnaround jumper 34 seconds later to bring the game back to within single digits. Ruchti connected on another jumper with one minute left to get Brodhead to within six points, but Monroe made five of its next six free throws to push the lead back to 10 points.
"We got some good play tonight from a lot of players. I think we showed that when we play well we can play with anyone, but we just have to be more consistent with that," Medenwaldt said.
Riley Olson gave the Cardinals one last breath, hitting a 3-pointer with 18.2 seconds remaining, but Monroe closed the game out.
"We needed a win tonight. It was a hard-fought battle, but it's nice to come out on top," Keen said. "It's a good team win."
Sutter finished with nine points for Monroe (10-2, 5-1 Badger South). Kennison had six and Sellnow added five points. Monroe travels to Oregon (11-3, 4-2) on Friday night.
"(Monroe) hit some big shots when they needed to. We did a lot of things tonight to compete, but we just didn't make enough shots at times when we had to," Medenwaldt said.
Hegi scored eight for the Cardinals (7-3, 6-1 Rock Valley South), with Wymer and Harding adding five apiece. Brodhead travels to Edgerton (5-7, 4-4) on Thursday before hosting Palmyra-Eagle (3-8, 2-6) Friday night in a girls-boys doubleheader.
The Cheesemakers' Ashley Hermanson and Jamie Armstrong combined for 27 points, while Kristen Ruchti and Dana Lewis scored 21 for the Cardinals.
"We don't see that very often," Monroe head coach Kevin Keen said of seeing Brodhead's two six-footers take on his pair of six-footers. "I thought we did a good job against them. Jamie and Ashley both weren't afraid to go in and challenge them."
Guard play and outside shooting also played a factor in the outcome - Monroe had five 3-pointers to Brodhead's four. But the game likely was decided by who was - and wasn't - on the court at the end of the game.
The first quarter seemed to go the Cardinals' way. Brodhead got a pair of 3-pointers from Cassie Wymer and Courtney Mielke to take a 10-4 lead with 3 minutes, 29 seconds left to play in the opening quarter. By the end of the period, Brodhead led 12-6.
From there, Keen's Cheesemakers righted the ship after back-to-back losses to Sauk Prairie and Madison Edgewood.
Gwen Sutter drained a 3-pointer to open the second and Kyleigh Sellnow drove the lane to trim the lead to one. Hermanson followed with a jump shot to give Monroe the lead just two minutes into the period.
The two teams slugged it out over the next three minutes, changing leads four times.
Monroe took its final lead with 2:33 left in the half when Morgan Kennison hit her second consecutive 3-pointer, giving the Cheesemakers a 21-18 lead.
"Morgan Kennison came in and hit two big 3s. That gave us the jump-start we needed," Keen said. "And she has the capability of doing that."
Monroe upped its lead to 25-18 until the winding seconds of the half.
Wymer drove the right baseline and hit a tough layup for Brodhead. She collided with a couple of Cheesemakers on the play, and went down hard with a twisted ankle. The officials didn't stop play with just five seconds left in the half, but the Cardinals held Monroe scoreless with just four players on defense. Wymer finally was helped off the court during halftime and didn't see any action in the second half.
"Defensively it was a really big deal to lose Cassie. She's as quick as they come and defensively she really locks people up," Brodhead coach Chris Medenwaldt said.
Medenwaldt said Wymer likely will miss a week, a huge blow to a Cardinals team that had won seven straight games before Tuesday.
The Cardinals came out hot in the second half. Ruchti found Lewis in the paint for an early hoop and put four more points in during the first 2:29 of the second half, trimming Monroe's lead to 27-26.
The Cheesemakers then used a pressure defense and solid free throw shooting to ring off 10 straight points and seemingly put the game away.
By the close of the third quarter, Monroe led 40-30 and Brodhead was having trouble on the perimeter. Courtney Mielke picked up her fourth foul just minutes into the second half and Alyssa Harding picked up her fourth with 5:16 left to play. Mielke fouled out with 4:48 left, and Harding followed suit just 28 seconds later.
"All of that was (Monroe). They've got some good guards and can take you baseline," Medenwaldt said.
Brodhead was forced to enter the final four minutes without its three starting guards and trailing 46-33.
"We had some silly mistakes, but that goes with who we are playing," Medenwaldt added. "That's a state-caliber team. They're state champs until someone proves otherwise."
The Cardinals had one last push in them. Leah Hegi hit a 3-pointer with 1:56 left and Ruchti followed with a turnaround jumper 34 seconds later to bring the game back to within single digits. Ruchti connected on another jumper with one minute left to get Brodhead to within six points, but Monroe made five of its next six free throws to push the lead back to 10 points.
"We got some good play tonight from a lot of players. I think we showed that when we play well we can play with anyone, but we just have to be more consistent with that," Medenwaldt said.
Riley Olson gave the Cardinals one last breath, hitting a 3-pointer with 18.2 seconds remaining, but Monroe closed the game out.
"We needed a win tonight. It was a hard-fought battle, but it's nice to come out on top," Keen said. "It's a good team win."
Sutter finished with nine points for Monroe (10-2, 5-1 Badger South). Kennison had six and Sellnow added five points. Monroe travels to Oregon (11-3, 4-2) on Friday night.
"(Monroe) hit some big shots when they needed to. We did a lot of things tonight to compete, but we just didn't make enough shots at times when we had to," Medenwaldt said.
Hegi scored eight for the Cardinals (7-3, 6-1 Rock Valley South), with Wymer and Harding adding five apiece. Brodhead travels to Edgerton (5-7, 4-4) on Thursday before hosting Palmyra-Eagle (3-8, 2-6) Friday night in a girls-boys doubleheader.
