BRODHEAD - Junior Carly Mohns scored 25 points, and the Brodhead girls basketball team made enough plays down the stretch to pull out a thrilling 69-62 win over Oregon in overtime Monday night.
With the win, Brodhead, which is ranked No. 3 in the Associated Press Division 3 state poll, remains unbeaten (12-0, 8-0 Rock Valley South).
Brodhead coach Brad Pickett said the win against Oregon will absolutely be key when it comes time for seeding the tournament.
"It's one of the reasons we schedule games like this non-conference," he said. "It was a good matchup for us to play. They are probably the biggest team we will see all year. It was a good test for us."
The Cardinals held a 32-23 lead at the half. The Cardinals let a seven point lead slip away in the fourth, but Brodhead senior Taylor Douglas, who scored 16 points, made two free throws with 30 seconds to go in the fourth quarter to send the game to overtime.
"We didn't do a good job of being aggressive the last four minutes of the fourth quarter," Pickett said.
That said, the Cardinals did get one big stop.
On the other end of the court, the Panthers missed a 3-pointer at the end of regulation that would have won it.
"It was a big defensive stop and it gave us some momentum going into the overtime," Pickett said.
It was a different story in the extra session, where the Cardinals shot 10 free throws and outscored the Panthers 12-5.
"We just wanted to make sure we were being more aggressive in the overtime than we were at the end of the fourth quarter," Pickett said. "That is our style. We want to attack."
Brodhead shot 10 of 22 from the free throw line for the game, and Oregon was 18 of 24. Brodhead's Meg Duffield scored nine points on three 3-pointers. Pickett said as a team they talked about being more aggressive.
"(Mohns) was just a little more aggressive than she has been the last couple of games," Pickett said. "Tonight, we needed her to score more points. She is always willing to do whatever this team needs her to do to win and she stepped up."
CLINTON 43, MONROE 39
CLINTON - The Monroe girls basketball team stormed back from an 11-point deficit, but lost a nail-biter 43-39 to Clinton Monday night.
Monroe senior Briana Katzenberger, who scored a team-high 10 points, made a 3-pointer with about 1 minute, 30 seconds left to give the Cheesemakers a 38-37 lead. Clinton's Mallory Niemann then converted a three-point play to give the Cougars a 40-38 lead, and the Cougars were able to hang on by knocking down 4 of 4 free throws in the final 1:30.
"You feel rough when you have one and you are that close," Monroe coach Sam Mathiason said.
Clinton (12-1) went on a 10-0 third quarter run and led 31-19 about midway through the period. Clinton's Megan Lantz scored a game-high 17 points and Niemann had 13.
"When you are close there are a lot of possessions in the third quarter you go back and look at," Mathiason said.
Monroe (1-12, 0-5 Badger South) now has one week of practices before a conference game at Milton Jan. 25.
"They have one of the best players in the state in Morgan Blumer," Mathiason said. "They are very efficient on offense. We have to keep working on defense and continuing to find ways to score points.
With the win, Brodhead, which is ranked No. 3 in the Associated Press Division 3 state poll, remains unbeaten (12-0, 8-0 Rock Valley South).
Brodhead coach Brad Pickett said the win against Oregon will absolutely be key when it comes time for seeding the tournament.
"It's one of the reasons we schedule games like this non-conference," he said. "It was a good matchup for us to play. They are probably the biggest team we will see all year. It was a good test for us."
The Cardinals held a 32-23 lead at the half. The Cardinals let a seven point lead slip away in the fourth, but Brodhead senior Taylor Douglas, who scored 16 points, made two free throws with 30 seconds to go in the fourth quarter to send the game to overtime.
"We didn't do a good job of being aggressive the last four minutes of the fourth quarter," Pickett said.
That said, the Cardinals did get one big stop.
On the other end of the court, the Panthers missed a 3-pointer at the end of regulation that would have won it.
"It was a big defensive stop and it gave us some momentum going into the overtime," Pickett said.
It was a different story in the extra session, where the Cardinals shot 10 free throws and outscored the Panthers 12-5.
"We just wanted to make sure we were being more aggressive in the overtime than we were at the end of the fourth quarter," Pickett said. "That is our style. We want to attack."
Brodhead shot 10 of 22 from the free throw line for the game, and Oregon was 18 of 24. Brodhead's Meg Duffield scored nine points on three 3-pointers. Pickett said as a team they talked about being more aggressive.
"(Mohns) was just a little more aggressive than she has been the last couple of games," Pickett said. "Tonight, we needed her to score more points. She is always willing to do whatever this team needs her to do to win and she stepped up."
CLINTON 43, MONROE 39
CLINTON - The Monroe girls basketball team stormed back from an 11-point deficit, but lost a nail-biter 43-39 to Clinton Monday night.
Monroe senior Briana Katzenberger, who scored a team-high 10 points, made a 3-pointer with about 1 minute, 30 seconds left to give the Cheesemakers a 38-37 lead. Clinton's Mallory Niemann then converted a three-point play to give the Cougars a 40-38 lead, and the Cougars were able to hang on by knocking down 4 of 4 free throws in the final 1:30.
"You feel rough when you have one and you are that close," Monroe coach Sam Mathiason said.
Clinton (12-1) went on a 10-0 third quarter run and led 31-19 about midway through the period. Clinton's Megan Lantz scored a game-high 17 points and Niemann had 13.
"When you are close there are a lot of possessions in the third quarter you go back and look at," Mathiason said.
Monroe (1-12, 0-5 Badger South) now has one week of practices before a conference game at Milton Jan. 25.
"They have one of the best players in the state in Morgan Blumer," Mathiason said. "They are very efficient on offense. We have to keep working on defense and continuing to find ways to score points.
