MONROE - Senior guard Alex Tordoff has heard his coach time and again stress his defensive philosophy.
Tordoff said the Monroe High School boys basketball team took the message to heart Thursday in clamping down on defense to roll to a 64-46 nonconference win over Reedsburg.
Reedsburg shot just 30.3 percent (17 of 56), and the Cheesemakers forced the Beavers into 11 turnovers.
"I thought we just stuck to our gameplan and just tried to close the gaps," Tordoff said. "We helped when we needed to help. I think it caused them to miss shots. I thought we played really well defensively. We played really well against Stoughton last game, and I thought we imposed our will against Reedsburg tonight. We hope to continue that moving forward."
Reedsburg jumped out to an 11-6 lead. It didn't take the Cheesemakers long to answer. The Beavers went through a 9-minute, 54-second scoring drought that coincided with a 12-1 Cheesemakers' run.
Monroe junior Brayden Zettle, who scored a game-high 15 points, drilled a 3-pointer to tie the game at 11 with 10:36 left in the first half. Junior Hunter Ward converted a three-point play to give the Cheesemakers an 18-12 lead with 6:02 left. Tordoff scored on a layup with 3:54 to go to extend the Cheesemakers' lead to 20-13.
Despite shooting 25 percent in the first half, the Beavers trailed by just eight points after Monroe senior Tyler Elmer's layup. The Beavers stayed in the game by going 6 of 9 from the free-throw line in the first half and hitting two 3-pointers.
The Cheesemakers broke the game open with a 26-5 run to start the second half. Zettle scored 10 of his 15 points and hit two of his 3-pointers in the second half during the surge. Junior Jonah Tostrud scored on a layup to give the Cheesemakers a 44-25 lead with 11:50 left in the second half.
The Beavers answered with a 12-2 run late in the second half. Reedsburg freshman Will Fuhrmann knocked down a 3-pointer to slice the Cheesemakers' lead to 46-37 with 6:50 left. The Cheesemakers again responded; this time with a 12-0 spurt to put the game away. The Cheesemakers got layups from Tostrud, sophomore Nick Schumacher and Tordoff to take a 58-37 lead. The Cheesemakers led by as many as 23 points after Elmer's layup late in the second half.
Reedsburg junior Tyson Tully scored a team-high 12 points and had five rebounds. Tully scored 14 points against the Cheesemakers last year and hit a game-tying 3-pointer to send the game to overtime and knocked down a 3-pointer in the extra period to help the Beavers beat Monroe 55-53.
"He (Tully) really hurt us last year," Monroe coach Brian Bassett said. "We wanted to take the ball out of his hands and not have him beat us this year. The guys remember."
Tostrud added 10 points, and Elmer had eight points.
The Cheesemakers did most of their damage in the lane in the second half.
"I think we have done a pretty good job of attacking the basket all year," Bassett said. "I just think we are more efficient in the second half getting in the paint."
Next up for the Cheesemakers is the Snack Bowl at home Saturday against Freeport. The girls game is at 5:30 p.m. and the boys game is at 7 p.m.
Tordoff said the Monroe High School boys basketball team took the message to heart Thursday in clamping down on defense to roll to a 64-46 nonconference win over Reedsburg.
Reedsburg shot just 30.3 percent (17 of 56), and the Cheesemakers forced the Beavers into 11 turnovers.
"I thought we just stuck to our gameplan and just tried to close the gaps," Tordoff said. "We helped when we needed to help. I think it caused them to miss shots. I thought we played really well defensively. We played really well against Stoughton last game, and I thought we imposed our will against Reedsburg tonight. We hope to continue that moving forward."
Reedsburg jumped out to an 11-6 lead. It didn't take the Cheesemakers long to answer. The Beavers went through a 9-minute, 54-second scoring drought that coincided with a 12-1 Cheesemakers' run.
Monroe junior Brayden Zettle, who scored a game-high 15 points, drilled a 3-pointer to tie the game at 11 with 10:36 left in the first half. Junior Hunter Ward converted a three-point play to give the Cheesemakers an 18-12 lead with 6:02 left. Tordoff scored on a layup with 3:54 to go to extend the Cheesemakers' lead to 20-13.
Despite shooting 25 percent in the first half, the Beavers trailed by just eight points after Monroe senior Tyler Elmer's layup. The Beavers stayed in the game by going 6 of 9 from the free-throw line in the first half and hitting two 3-pointers.
The Cheesemakers broke the game open with a 26-5 run to start the second half. Zettle scored 10 of his 15 points and hit two of his 3-pointers in the second half during the surge. Junior Jonah Tostrud scored on a layup to give the Cheesemakers a 44-25 lead with 11:50 left in the second half.
The Beavers answered with a 12-2 run late in the second half. Reedsburg freshman Will Fuhrmann knocked down a 3-pointer to slice the Cheesemakers' lead to 46-37 with 6:50 left. The Cheesemakers again responded; this time with a 12-0 spurt to put the game away. The Cheesemakers got layups from Tostrud, sophomore Nick Schumacher and Tordoff to take a 58-37 lead. The Cheesemakers led by as many as 23 points after Elmer's layup late in the second half.
Reedsburg junior Tyson Tully scored a team-high 12 points and had five rebounds. Tully scored 14 points against the Cheesemakers last year and hit a game-tying 3-pointer to send the game to overtime and knocked down a 3-pointer in the extra period to help the Beavers beat Monroe 55-53.
"He (Tully) really hurt us last year," Monroe coach Brian Bassett said. "We wanted to take the ball out of his hands and not have him beat us this year. The guys remember."
Tostrud added 10 points, and Elmer had eight points.
The Cheesemakers did most of their damage in the lane in the second half.
"I think we have done a pretty good job of attacking the basket all year," Bassett said. "I just think we are more efficient in the second half getting in the paint."
Next up for the Cheesemakers is the Snack Bowl at home Saturday against Freeport. The girls game is at 5:30 p.m. and the boys game is at 7 p.m.
