VERONA - An old saying claims that "All good things must come to an end." Unfortunately for the Monroe boys basketball team, that end unexpectedly came all too early for its vastly accomplished senior class.
"It's going to be debated for a long time I think," coach Pat Murphy said after Monroe's 51-49 loss to DeForest in the WIAA Division 2 Verona Regional championship. "It's an empty feeling. It stings and it will for a while. You have to make plays when they're presented. A lot of little things didn't add up in our favor."
Senior Michael Barrett, who was apart of the state-runner up team two years ago, had a 12-foot jump shot near the baseline go in-and-out of the hoop as time expired.
"With Michael on that last shot, we trust him 100 percent. I trust him 100 percent," fellow senior Bryan Tordoff said. "I'd have him take that shot 10 more times and he'd hit nine of them."
Monroe had fought its way back from a 10-point deficit with under 4 1/2 minutes left in the game to give itself a chance to tie. DeForest's Ben Coorough missed the back end of a double-bonus free throw with 7.5 seconds left, and Monroe senior Andrew Armstrong came down with the rebound. Armstrong then flipped the ball to Barrett, who went the length of the court before missing the mid-range jumper.
"When I was dribbling up, I knew with 7.5 seconds left we needed to get a shot up as quickly as possible. And I knew they weren't going to foul me so I would have a decent look at something," said Barrett, who finished with 13 points. "Then I got to an open gap and let it go. It just rattled out."
"When you're down by 10 in the fourth quarter and battle back and have one of the better guys in the league with a shot that goes in-and-out, it says something. It goes in and we're in overtime and they have their best player (Brandon Staffeil) on the bench (fouled out)," Murphy said.
Unlike the fourth quarter, in which the Cheesemakers (19-5) outscored Norskies (14-11) 25-24, neither team had produced much offense. In fact, DeForest held a 4-3 lead after the first quarter and was on top 16-12 at halftime.
"It was crazy in the fourth quarter. Everything picked up on both ends. It was a whole other game," Barrett said.
"I think we just realized that we didn't want to lose," Tordoff said. "We wanted to give it our all and give thanks to everyone who's come out here and supported us. We just came up a little bit short."
Monroe struggled shooting in the opening half, going 1-for-11 from the field through the first 11 minutes. The Cheesemakers were also uncharacteristically bad at the charity stripe, where they connected on just 2 of 10 attempts in the first half.
"You've got to create your own breaks, and part of that is making your free throws when the opportunity presents itself," Murphy said. "We left too many hanging out there in the first half."
Tordoff, who has made two state tournament appearances in his four years on varsity, excited the crowd in the second half by connecting on four 3-pointers after struggling in the first half.
"This year has been so inconsistent for him, but that's how the game goes," Murphy said about Tordoff, who finished with a game-high 22 points.
The early shooting woes wasn't the only problem for Monroe, a typically fundamentally sound club. The Cheesemakers had several defensive breakdowns, including an open 3-pointer as time expired in the first half. Then, with 32 seconds left in the third, DeForest's Taylor Mack was left alone under the basket for an easy bucket that made it 27-24.
"It's uncharacteristic of us. (The loss) was just a lot of different things that didn't add up into our favor. If you're not solid all the way through, you're in trouble," Murphy said. "(DeForest) made plays, and that's a big credit to them."
DeForest's Kyle Renz scored 16 points in the fourth quarter. As a team, the Norskies fought their way into three basket-and-one situations in the second half, hitting the free throw each time. Those conventional 3-point plays made it even harder for Monroe, which could only hoist up deep jumpers against DeForest's zone defense.
Now the Cheesemakers can only look back at this season as think of what it could have been.
"We didn't want to see the season end like this," senior guard and co-captain Damian Penniston said. "Last year seeing (the seniors) after we lost, it was hard. But I'm here. It happens."
As DeForest moves on to face Waunakee (23-1) in the sectional semifinal in Middleton on Thursday, Monroe can only watch the remainder of the tournament from the stands. It was the second time in as many years the Cheesemakers had their season end in an upset in the regional final in Verona.
"There's a lot of emotions running right now," said Murphy, who graduates 10 seniors. "We had a great senior class. Our senior class has demonstrated to never give up. They've been a really classy group of guys. They really looked out for each other."
"It's going to be debated for a long time I think," coach Pat Murphy said after Monroe's 51-49 loss to DeForest in the WIAA Division 2 Verona Regional championship. "It's an empty feeling. It stings and it will for a while. You have to make plays when they're presented. A lot of little things didn't add up in our favor."
Senior Michael Barrett, who was apart of the state-runner up team two years ago, had a 12-foot jump shot near the baseline go in-and-out of the hoop as time expired.
"With Michael on that last shot, we trust him 100 percent. I trust him 100 percent," fellow senior Bryan Tordoff said. "I'd have him take that shot 10 more times and he'd hit nine of them."
Monroe had fought its way back from a 10-point deficit with under 4 1/2 minutes left in the game to give itself a chance to tie. DeForest's Ben Coorough missed the back end of a double-bonus free throw with 7.5 seconds left, and Monroe senior Andrew Armstrong came down with the rebound. Armstrong then flipped the ball to Barrett, who went the length of the court before missing the mid-range jumper.
"When I was dribbling up, I knew with 7.5 seconds left we needed to get a shot up as quickly as possible. And I knew they weren't going to foul me so I would have a decent look at something," said Barrett, who finished with 13 points. "Then I got to an open gap and let it go. It just rattled out."
"When you're down by 10 in the fourth quarter and battle back and have one of the better guys in the league with a shot that goes in-and-out, it says something. It goes in and we're in overtime and they have their best player (Brandon Staffeil) on the bench (fouled out)," Murphy said.
Unlike the fourth quarter, in which the Cheesemakers (19-5) outscored Norskies (14-11) 25-24, neither team had produced much offense. In fact, DeForest held a 4-3 lead after the first quarter and was on top 16-12 at halftime.
"It was crazy in the fourth quarter. Everything picked up on both ends. It was a whole other game," Barrett said.
"I think we just realized that we didn't want to lose," Tordoff said. "We wanted to give it our all and give thanks to everyone who's come out here and supported us. We just came up a little bit short."
Monroe struggled shooting in the opening half, going 1-for-11 from the field through the first 11 minutes. The Cheesemakers were also uncharacteristically bad at the charity stripe, where they connected on just 2 of 10 attempts in the first half.
"You've got to create your own breaks, and part of that is making your free throws when the opportunity presents itself," Murphy said. "We left too many hanging out there in the first half."
Tordoff, who has made two state tournament appearances in his four years on varsity, excited the crowd in the second half by connecting on four 3-pointers after struggling in the first half.
"This year has been so inconsistent for him, but that's how the game goes," Murphy said about Tordoff, who finished with a game-high 22 points.
The early shooting woes wasn't the only problem for Monroe, a typically fundamentally sound club. The Cheesemakers had several defensive breakdowns, including an open 3-pointer as time expired in the first half. Then, with 32 seconds left in the third, DeForest's Taylor Mack was left alone under the basket for an easy bucket that made it 27-24.
"It's uncharacteristic of us. (The loss) was just a lot of different things that didn't add up into our favor. If you're not solid all the way through, you're in trouble," Murphy said. "(DeForest) made plays, and that's a big credit to them."
DeForest's Kyle Renz scored 16 points in the fourth quarter. As a team, the Norskies fought their way into three basket-and-one situations in the second half, hitting the free throw each time. Those conventional 3-point plays made it even harder for Monroe, which could only hoist up deep jumpers against DeForest's zone defense.
Now the Cheesemakers can only look back at this season as think of what it could have been.
"We didn't want to see the season end like this," senior guard and co-captain Damian Penniston said. "Last year seeing (the seniors) after we lost, it was hard. But I'm here. It happens."
As DeForest moves on to face Waunakee (23-1) in the sectional semifinal in Middleton on Thursday, Monroe can only watch the remainder of the tournament from the stands. It was the second time in as many years the Cheesemakers had their season end in an upset in the regional final in Verona.
"There's a lot of emotions running right now," said Murphy, who graduates 10 seniors. "We had a great senior class. Our senior class has demonstrated to never give up. They've been a really classy group of guys. They really looked out for each other."
