MONROE - Brooke Adams wasn't feeling the best battling a hoarse voice after the game, but her play on the court told a different story.
Adams scored a game-high 25 points to lead Monroe to a thrilling 54-52 win over Monona Grove Tuesday. Monroe (7-11, 2-7 Badger South) has been on the brink of breaking through and contending with one of the top four teams in the conference. The Cheesemakers slammed the door Tuesday by breaking the Silver Eagles' fullcourt press. Monona Grove (8-8, 5-4 Badger South) sells out to pressure the ball and looks to turn turnovers into points. The Cheesemakers made a point of breaking the press and scoring on the break with a high efficiency. The Cheesemakers shot 56 percent in the second half (9 of 16) and outscored the Silver Eagles 18-11 in the fourth quarter.
"It feels great especially because they (Monona Grove) are such a good team," Adams said. "It shows that if we all work together we can make great things happen. We knew if we could break their press we would get a mismatch or have more numbers than they did."
The Cheesemakers made it happen late in the fourth quarter. Adams came up with a steal and scored on a layup with 5 minutes left in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 43. Adams converted a conventional three-point play on the break to give the Cheesemakers a 46-43 lead. Monona Grove's Autumn Ogden, who scored 10 points and had 10 rebounds, scored on a putback with 3:30 left to cut the Cheesemakers' lead to one point.
Monroe freshman Sydney Mathiason scored on a layup with 2:01 to go to give the Cheesemakers a 50-47 lead. It was a frantic final 2 minutes. Adams made 3 of 4 free throws in the final 41 seconds. Monona Grove senior Kaylee Stinson had one last shot after Monroe sophomore Lexi Hilliard made 1 of 2 free throws with 7.9 seconds to go. Stinson drove coast-to-coast, but the ball popped out of her hands and the Cheesemakers survived.
"We worked on the press in practice," Monroe coach Sam Mathiason said. "I was hoping it would carry over. Tonight we did an excellent job. It's a lot of different parts that had to work. We used ball fakes and made the extra pass and we got conversions. We were able to handle that pressure. We keep working to take the next step and tonight we did a that. We had to limit their fastbreak points and I think we did a better job of that tonight than the first time we played."
It helped that Adams was efficient scoring on the break to make the Silver Eagles pay for pressing. Adams had plenty of help. Mathiason scored 11 points and had seven rebounds. Monroe senior Alacia Keegan scored six points and grabbed seven rebounds.
"Brooke gave us that scoring," Mathiason said. "She has that ability. Brooke was getting to the basket and getting a lot of conversions."
The Cheesemakers used a 2-3 zone to limit the Silver Eagles' penetration and try to neutralize their post game.
"We knew they had a good point guard and a couple of good post players," Adams said. "We wanted to use the zone to stop their drive and kick offense. The zone was the best way to control their shooters and post players."
Adams scored a game-high 25 points to lead Monroe to a thrilling 54-52 win over Monona Grove Tuesday. Monroe (7-11, 2-7 Badger South) has been on the brink of breaking through and contending with one of the top four teams in the conference. The Cheesemakers slammed the door Tuesday by breaking the Silver Eagles' fullcourt press. Monona Grove (8-8, 5-4 Badger South) sells out to pressure the ball and looks to turn turnovers into points. The Cheesemakers made a point of breaking the press and scoring on the break with a high efficiency. The Cheesemakers shot 56 percent in the second half (9 of 16) and outscored the Silver Eagles 18-11 in the fourth quarter.
"It feels great especially because they (Monona Grove) are such a good team," Adams said. "It shows that if we all work together we can make great things happen. We knew if we could break their press we would get a mismatch or have more numbers than they did."
The Cheesemakers made it happen late in the fourth quarter. Adams came up with a steal and scored on a layup with 5 minutes left in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 43. Adams converted a conventional three-point play on the break to give the Cheesemakers a 46-43 lead. Monona Grove's Autumn Ogden, who scored 10 points and had 10 rebounds, scored on a putback with 3:30 left to cut the Cheesemakers' lead to one point.
Monroe freshman Sydney Mathiason scored on a layup with 2:01 to go to give the Cheesemakers a 50-47 lead. It was a frantic final 2 minutes. Adams made 3 of 4 free throws in the final 41 seconds. Monona Grove senior Kaylee Stinson had one last shot after Monroe sophomore Lexi Hilliard made 1 of 2 free throws with 7.9 seconds to go. Stinson drove coast-to-coast, but the ball popped out of her hands and the Cheesemakers survived.
"We worked on the press in practice," Monroe coach Sam Mathiason said. "I was hoping it would carry over. Tonight we did an excellent job. It's a lot of different parts that had to work. We used ball fakes and made the extra pass and we got conversions. We were able to handle that pressure. We keep working to take the next step and tonight we did a that. We had to limit their fastbreak points and I think we did a better job of that tonight than the first time we played."
It helped that Adams was efficient scoring on the break to make the Silver Eagles pay for pressing. Adams had plenty of help. Mathiason scored 11 points and had seven rebounds. Monroe senior Alacia Keegan scored six points and grabbed seven rebounds.
"Brooke gave us that scoring," Mathiason said. "She has that ability. Brooke was getting to the basket and getting a lot of conversions."
The Cheesemakers used a 2-3 zone to limit the Silver Eagles' penetration and try to neutralize their post game.
"We knew they had a good point guard and a couple of good post players," Adams said. "We wanted to use the zone to stop their drive and kick offense. The zone was the best way to control their shooters and post players."
