FORT ATKINSON - The Monroe boys basketball team rallied in the second half but could not quite catch Fort Atkinson on Friday night, losing the Badger South Conference game 54-47.

"We've been getting open shots all season," Monroe coach Pat Murphy said. "In the first half tonight we missed a few easy shots, and in the second half we were making them. We just have to try to do that for both halves."

Junior Alex Tordoff finished with 16 points to pace the Cheesemakers (0-4,

0-2). He was the only Monroe player to score in double figures, but nine of the 11 Cheesemakers who played scored.

Fort Atkinson (5-0, 1-0) made eight 3-pointers, which Murphy said was a deciding factor in the game. The Cheesemakers hit just four 3s - two by Hunter Ward and two by Dave Keegan.

Dylan Bernard, the Blackhawks' leading scorer, made five 3s and finished with 19 points.

The Cheesemakers fell behind 27-16 by halftime and then outscored the Blackhawks 31-27 in the second half.

" A big thing in the game was in the second half when there were four or five opportunities to get loose balls, the 50-50 balls, and they got them and scored," Murphy said.

Bernard also hit three shots from long range during a critical stretch of the second half.

"I felt like in the second half we were one play away from making it a one-possession game and then you don't know what would have happened," Murphy said. "It would have changed their mindset, too."

Murphy believes it is a simple formula for the Cheesemakers to improve.

"We're just trying to get cleaner on the offensive end and tougher on the defensive end," Murphy said.