JANESVILLE - Emily Rufenacht has been waiting for the biggest shot of her career for a long time.
In Saturday night's WIAA Division 2 sectional final with Delavan-Darien, she waited 31 minutes, 54 seconds to take her first shot from the field, and it couldn't have been bigger.
With the game deadlocked at 46-apiece, the Monroe junior patiently waited for her screens to be set before finding just enough space beyond the top of the key to swish a career-defining shot that made some recent shooting woes vanish, along with the Comets by a 49-46 count.
"I've been missing shots, but that one makes it all better," Rufenacht said. "My dad tells me every day not to think about missing, but to go out there and know you're going to make every one."
Senior and poster-athlete for Comets hoops Kelly Supernaw got a look at a 30-footer from the right angle as time expired. Her coach may have had the best look at it of everyone in attendance.
"We had the ball in our best player's hands and I was standing right next to her as she let it go, but it just came up short," Delavan-Darien coach Keiya Square said.
Monroe got an undeniable scare when sophomore post Jamie Armstrong fouled out with just half a minute to play.
"When Jamie fouled out, I thought we were in trouble," head coach Kevin Keen said.
"I just went, 'Oh, what do we do?'" Cheesemaker Morgan Kennison said. "But I knew I had to and all of us had to fill her shoes."
Kennison, a sophomore, had already knocked down two clutch free throws to give Monroe a 45-40 lead after Armstrong picked up her fourth foul midway through the fourth and took a temporary seat.
The affable stand-in also refused the urge to put up a wide-open 3-pointer as Monroe tried to chop the clock down.
"She wanted it, but she had the wherewithal to not pull the trigger," Keen said.
"We knew we had to take our time and take the best shot," Kennison said. "I knew I couldn't take it, I knew there are better shooters than I am. I don't care about the glory, I want the team to get the glory."
After a steal and lay-in by Hannah Nieuwenhuis, said glory was challenged as Supernaw then set up Mallory Epping for a shot and the final Armstrong foul as she passed up a challenge lay-up and bounced a pass along the baseline where the junior post tied things at 46.
"I was going to put it up, but I saw her and had more confidence in her," Supernaw said. "I said a quick prayer, something like 'Please make it.'"
Epping missed the free throw as 30 seconds remained.
Ashley Hermanson and Monroe point guard Gwen Suttter tied to lead all scorers with 13 points as Sutter stayed hot with two 3s.
"I was told to shoot," Sutter said. "We keep believing in ourselves, and that's our motto, so we're not going to stop believing."
While Supernaw and Epping scored 11 points apiece, Comets freshman Alana Cesarz led her club with 12.
Rufenacht's only other shot attempts came with just over a minute left in the first period when she drew a crucial second foul on Supernaw. Armstrong triggered her wing guard into the open floor with an outlet pass off a defensive rebound. Supernaw barely got there in time to prevent the bunny, but missed the next four-plus minutes of play with the hard-earned foul.
Despite her absence, the Comets closed the gap thanks to back-to-back buckets by Epping, the second of which gave her club its first lead at 14-13.
Rufenacht's dagger cut deep for Square after his club snuck past Lake Mills in the semis. A week ago, he watched Whitewater nearly end the Comets' season in the regional finals with an identical last-second try.
"It was exactly the same shot and as soon as it left (Rufenacht's) hand, I knew it had a good chance of going in," Square said.
After the Cheese lost a 41-39 decision against Elkhorn to open their season, Keen got some props from Elks coach Jim Henriott, who was in attendance Saturday night.
"He told me, "Kevin, this is not the same team we played back in November,' and he's right," Keen said. "There's been so much hard work and it's one cohesive unit now."
Rufenacht, who also hit a clutch 3 to defeat Oregon months back, is happy to embrace another week of winter sports and wait to don the softball gear.
"It gives me the chills to think about how far we've come," Rufenacht said.
In Saturday night's WIAA Division 2 sectional final with Delavan-Darien, she waited 31 minutes, 54 seconds to take her first shot from the field, and it couldn't have been bigger.
With the game deadlocked at 46-apiece, the Monroe junior patiently waited for her screens to be set before finding just enough space beyond the top of the key to swish a career-defining shot that made some recent shooting woes vanish, along with the Comets by a 49-46 count.
"I've been missing shots, but that one makes it all better," Rufenacht said. "My dad tells me every day not to think about missing, but to go out there and know you're going to make every one."
Senior and poster-athlete for Comets hoops Kelly Supernaw got a look at a 30-footer from the right angle as time expired. Her coach may have had the best look at it of everyone in attendance.
"We had the ball in our best player's hands and I was standing right next to her as she let it go, but it just came up short," Delavan-Darien coach Keiya Square said.
Monroe got an undeniable scare when sophomore post Jamie Armstrong fouled out with just half a minute to play.
"When Jamie fouled out, I thought we were in trouble," head coach Kevin Keen said.
"I just went, 'Oh, what do we do?'" Cheesemaker Morgan Kennison said. "But I knew I had to and all of us had to fill her shoes."
Kennison, a sophomore, had already knocked down two clutch free throws to give Monroe a 45-40 lead after Armstrong picked up her fourth foul midway through the fourth and took a temporary seat.
The affable stand-in also refused the urge to put up a wide-open 3-pointer as Monroe tried to chop the clock down.
"She wanted it, but she had the wherewithal to not pull the trigger," Keen said.
"We knew we had to take our time and take the best shot," Kennison said. "I knew I couldn't take it, I knew there are better shooters than I am. I don't care about the glory, I want the team to get the glory."
After a steal and lay-in by Hannah Nieuwenhuis, said glory was challenged as Supernaw then set up Mallory Epping for a shot and the final Armstrong foul as she passed up a challenge lay-up and bounced a pass along the baseline where the junior post tied things at 46.
"I was going to put it up, but I saw her and had more confidence in her," Supernaw said. "I said a quick prayer, something like 'Please make it.'"
Epping missed the free throw as 30 seconds remained.
Ashley Hermanson and Monroe point guard Gwen Suttter tied to lead all scorers with 13 points as Sutter stayed hot with two 3s.
"I was told to shoot," Sutter said. "We keep believing in ourselves, and that's our motto, so we're not going to stop believing."
While Supernaw and Epping scored 11 points apiece, Comets freshman Alana Cesarz led her club with 12.
Rufenacht's only other shot attempts came with just over a minute left in the first period when she drew a crucial second foul on Supernaw. Armstrong triggered her wing guard into the open floor with an outlet pass off a defensive rebound. Supernaw barely got there in time to prevent the bunny, but missed the next four-plus minutes of play with the hard-earned foul.
Despite her absence, the Comets closed the gap thanks to back-to-back buckets by Epping, the second of which gave her club its first lead at 14-13.
Rufenacht's dagger cut deep for Square after his club snuck past Lake Mills in the semis. A week ago, he watched Whitewater nearly end the Comets' season in the regional finals with an identical last-second try.
"It was exactly the same shot and as soon as it left (Rufenacht's) hand, I knew it had a good chance of going in," Square said.
After the Cheese lost a 41-39 decision against Elkhorn to open their season, Keen got some props from Elks coach Jim Henriott, who was in attendance Saturday night.
"He told me, "Kevin, this is not the same team we played back in November,' and he's right," Keen said. "There's been so much hard work and it's one cohesive unit now."
Rufenacht, who also hit a clutch 3 to defeat Oregon months back, is happy to embrace another week of winter sports and wait to don the softball gear.
"It gives me the chills to think about how far we've come," Rufenacht said.
