MONROE - Basketball can be a game of peaks and valleys.
There were a couple of cold spells or valleys in the Monroe girls basketball team's 32-22 loss to Madison Edgewood on Senior Night on Friday.
Monroe (5-16, 3-8 Badger South) clamped down on defense and held the Crusaders without a field goal for more than 7 minutes in the second quarter. However, the Cheesemakers went 10 minutes, 12 seconds without a basket in the second half and still had a golden opportunity to win.
Monroe senior Brooke McBain, who scored a team-high seven points, drilled a 3-pointer from the top of the key to cut the Crusaders' lead to 19-15 with 5:48 left in the game. After a three-point play by Edgewood senior Cameron Chapin, Monroe sophomore Vanessa Studer hit a 3-pointer to cut the Crusaders' lead to 22-18. Studer then scored on a layup midway through the fourth quarter to slice the Crusaders' lead to 22-20.
"When you feel like you are not scoring you look up there to see the score and you feel like you still have a chance," Monroe coach Sam Mathiason said. "You feel fortunate to be in it even after going through the drought."
The Crusaders responded closing the fourth quarter on a 10-2 run. The Cheesemakers shot 18.1 percent (4-for-22) in the second half. Edgewood senior Molly Meriggioli scored on a putback and junior Amanda Kelm scored on a layup with about 3 minutes to go to extend the lead to 30-20.
"I thought defensively we played well and stuck our noses in there to make it tough for them to do what they wanted to do," Mathiason said.
It was McBain's final regular season home game. She is working to get back into rhythm after missing two games due to mono.
"I feel a lot better now than I did before," McBain said. "I haven't fully got my shooting back as you can see from the last three games."
McBain remained confident even during the cold spell. When the Cheesemakers scored eight points on three possessions in the fourth quarter, she thought bigger things were ahead.
"I thought we could pull it off since we had so much momentum going," she said.
The key for the Monroe is generating enough offense.
"We know the second time through the conference teams will be tougher," Mathiason said of teams keying on McBain. "We know we can't just rely on Brooke because basketball is a team game and we need other scorers."
Former Monroe girls basketball coach Kevin Keen was honored at halftime.
In his 22 years coaching, Keen compiled a record of 394-127 and guided the Cheesemakers to 14 conference championships, 11 regional titles, seven sectional crowns, seven state tournament berths and three state titles in 1989, 2006 and 2008.
There were a couple of cold spells or valleys in the Monroe girls basketball team's 32-22 loss to Madison Edgewood on Senior Night on Friday.
Monroe (5-16, 3-8 Badger South) clamped down on defense and held the Crusaders without a field goal for more than 7 minutes in the second quarter. However, the Cheesemakers went 10 minutes, 12 seconds without a basket in the second half and still had a golden opportunity to win.
Monroe senior Brooke McBain, who scored a team-high seven points, drilled a 3-pointer from the top of the key to cut the Crusaders' lead to 19-15 with 5:48 left in the game. After a three-point play by Edgewood senior Cameron Chapin, Monroe sophomore Vanessa Studer hit a 3-pointer to cut the Crusaders' lead to 22-18. Studer then scored on a layup midway through the fourth quarter to slice the Crusaders' lead to 22-20.
"When you feel like you are not scoring you look up there to see the score and you feel like you still have a chance," Monroe coach Sam Mathiason said. "You feel fortunate to be in it even after going through the drought."
The Crusaders responded closing the fourth quarter on a 10-2 run. The Cheesemakers shot 18.1 percent (4-for-22) in the second half. Edgewood senior Molly Meriggioli scored on a putback and junior Amanda Kelm scored on a layup with about 3 minutes to go to extend the lead to 30-20.
"I thought defensively we played well and stuck our noses in there to make it tough for them to do what they wanted to do," Mathiason said.
It was McBain's final regular season home game. She is working to get back into rhythm after missing two games due to mono.
"I feel a lot better now than I did before," McBain said. "I haven't fully got my shooting back as you can see from the last three games."
McBain remained confident even during the cold spell. When the Cheesemakers scored eight points on three possessions in the fourth quarter, she thought bigger things were ahead.
"I thought we could pull it off since we had so much momentum going," she said.
The key for the Monroe is generating enough offense.
"We know the second time through the conference teams will be tougher," Mathiason said of teams keying on McBain. "We know we can't just rely on Brooke because basketball is a team game and we need other scorers."
Former Monroe girls basketball coach Kevin Keen was honored at halftime.
In his 22 years coaching, Keen compiled a record of 394-127 and guided the Cheesemakers to 14 conference championships, 11 regional titles, seven sectional crowns, seven state tournament berths and three state titles in 1989, 2006 and 2008.
