MONROE - Chelsea Brice is making as much of her early-season starting opportunity as she can.
The senior guard has been filling in for junior shooter Kyleigh Sellnow, who still is not feeling 100 percent healthy. In Monroe's Badger South girls basketball opener Friday, Brice dropped 12 points, including six straight early in the fourth quarter, as the Cheesemakers defeated Madison Edgewood, 57-35.
"I just needed something to get me going, so hopefully this was the game," Brice said. "My team's going to need more out of me. To prove that I can be the one to do that will help the team in the long run."
Monroe led 48-31 early in the fourth, and Brice thrice hit jumpers from 12 feet out with defenders in her face.
"She had three big buckets there in that stretch that really opened things up," Monroe coach Kevin Keen said. "It was a good win for us, our first conference game."
Monroe knocked off Edgewood a year ago the first time the teams met on the road. Edgewood won Game 2 at Monroe and the Cheesemakers upended the Crusaders in the sectional final to qualify for state.
"We always want to come out strong and coming out strong was really good, especially against a team like Edgewood," junior Kylee Ritschard said. "We had to get the first win in our first conference game.
Monroe, which never trailed, jumped out to a 15-5 lead midway through the first and led 20-13 headed into the second after Brice drained a buzzer beater to slow a Crusader rally. Edgewood stayed with the Cheesemakers and reduced the margin to four at one point, but Monroe found a way to lead 28-22 at the break.
In the second half, Keen's team played staunch defense and the offense woke up.
"I thought we did a nice job defensively in the second half. We held them to 13 points," Keen said. "And our offense got on track a little bit there in the second half."
Monroe opened the third on an 11-2 run, which included a pair of baskets in the paint by senior Jamie Armstrong (14 points) and a 3-pointer from Kristin McArdle. Ritschard, who is sharing time at guard this season with Brice and Gwen Sutter (two points), drained two 3s in the game and finished with 11 points.
"I've always grown up to be a post (player), but when I came to high school I learned how to play guard," Ritschard said. "I can play both now and I think I'm strong at both."
"Hopefully Kylee and Chelsea playing well does nothing but help us as the season progresses. We have a solid seven now, to get Kyleigh (who played sparingly Friday) back would give us eight. Getting her back will make us that much better," Keen said.
Monroe (3-0, 1-0 Badger South) hosts Elkhorn on Dec. 8 before its next big conference game, a Dec. 12 showdown at Oregon. Brice just hopes she can keep her starting role on the roster.
"That's been my goal since freshman year - to start on varsity. It's been a big thing for me," she said.
The senior guard has been filling in for junior shooter Kyleigh Sellnow, who still is not feeling 100 percent healthy. In Monroe's Badger South girls basketball opener Friday, Brice dropped 12 points, including six straight early in the fourth quarter, as the Cheesemakers defeated Madison Edgewood, 57-35.
"I just needed something to get me going, so hopefully this was the game," Brice said. "My team's going to need more out of me. To prove that I can be the one to do that will help the team in the long run."
Monroe led 48-31 early in the fourth, and Brice thrice hit jumpers from 12 feet out with defenders in her face.
"She had three big buckets there in that stretch that really opened things up," Monroe coach Kevin Keen said. "It was a good win for us, our first conference game."
Monroe knocked off Edgewood a year ago the first time the teams met on the road. Edgewood won Game 2 at Monroe and the Cheesemakers upended the Crusaders in the sectional final to qualify for state.
"We always want to come out strong and coming out strong was really good, especially against a team like Edgewood," junior Kylee Ritschard said. "We had to get the first win in our first conference game.
Monroe, which never trailed, jumped out to a 15-5 lead midway through the first and led 20-13 headed into the second after Brice drained a buzzer beater to slow a Crusader rally. Edgewood stayed with the Cheesemakers and reduced the margin to four at one point, but Monroe found a way to lead 28-22 at the break.
In the second half, Keen's team played staunch defense and the offense woke up.
"I thought we did a nice job defensively in the second half. We held them to 13 points," Keen said. "And our offense got on track a little bit there in the second half."
Monroe opened the third on an 11-2 run, which included a pair of baskets in the paint by senior Jamie Armstrong (14 points) and a 3-pointer from Kristin McArdle. Ritschard, who is sharing time at guard this season with Brice and Gwen Sutter (two points), drained two 3s in the game and finished with 11 points.
"I've always grown up to be a post (player), but when I came to high school I learned how to play guard," Ritschard said. "I can play both now and I think I'm strong at both."
"Hopefully Kylee and Chelsea playing well does nothing but help us as the season progresses. We have a solid seven now, to get Kyleigh (who played sparingly Friday) back would give us eight. Getting her back will make us that much better," Keen said.
Monroe (3-0, 1-0 Badger South) hosts Elkhorn on Dec. 8 before its next big conference game, a Dec. 12 showdown at Oregon. Brice just hopes she can keep her starting role on the roster.
"That's been my goal since freshman year - to start on varsity. It's been a big thing for me," she said.
