MADISON - It was a case of deja vu for the Monroe basketball team, as Madison Edgewood's Connor McGinnis hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to hand the Cheesemakers a 45-43 loss Friday night: their second heartbreaker in a row.
Monroe (15-7, 7-5 Badger South) was coming off a buzzer-beating loss to Milton. The Cheesemakers have lost three games at the buzzer this year, as well as a loss to Waunakee with 2 seconds to go and a loss to Freeport in overtime. The Cheesemakers played without senior leading scorer Joe Latimer who is out for the year after tearing his ACL against Milton on Tuesday.
"We had a lot of sad people on the bus," Murphy said after Friday night's loss. "I just feel terrible. As a coach and player for 30 years, I have never seen a team have to deal with this much adversity. There will be people who doubt our coaching, our plays and what players we have out there. I just don't want people to question our kids' effort. They have battled and persevered."
The Cheesemakers' loss coupled with Monona Grove's win gives the Silver Eagles and Stoughton a Badger South Conference co-championship. Monroe had a 1 1/2 game lead in the Badger South, but they have lost three straight games and four of their last six.
"We say it all the time there is a fine line between being good and great," Murphy said. "We have to get back on the great line."
Monroe senior Alex Barenklau scored a game-high 23 points. Seniors Trent Wyssbrod and Brian Schneider scored eight and five points respectively.
The Cheesemakers were solid at the free throw line finishing 18 of 22.
"We did a lot of things well," Murphy said. "We struggled to score in the first half, and then we got going in the second half."
Monroe received a No. 2 seed in the WIAA Division 2 tournament and will play the winner of Portage-Edgewood in a regional semifinal game at 7 p.m. in Monroe on Friday.
Monroe (15-7, 7-5 Badger South) was coming off a buzzer-beating loss to Milton. The Cheesemakers have lost three games at the buzzer this year, as well as a loss to Waunakee with 2 seconds to go and a loss to Freeport in overtime. The Cheesemakers played without senior leading scorer Joe Latimer who is out for the year after tearing his ACL against Milton on Tuesday.
"We had a lot of sad people on the bus," Murphy said after Friday night's loss. "I just feel terrible. As a coach and player for 30 years, I have never seen a team have to deal with this much adversity. There will be people who doubt our coaching, our plays and what players we have out there. I just don't want people to question our kids' effort. They have battled and persevered."
The Cheesemakers' loss coupled with Monona Grove's win gives the Silver Eagles and Stoughton a Badger South Conference co-championship. Monroe had a 1 1/2 game lead in the Badger South, but they have lost three straight games and four of their last six.
"We say it all the time there is a fine line between being good and great," Murphy said. "We have to get back on the great line."
Monroe senior Alex Barenklau scored a game-high 23 points. Seniors Trent Wyssbrod and Brian Schneider scored eight and five points respectively.
The Cheesemakers were solid at the free throw line finishing 18 of 22.
"We did a lot of things well," Murphy said. "We struggled to score in the first half, and then we got going in the second half."
Monroe received a No. 2 seed in the WIAA Division 2 tournament and will play the winner of Portage-Edgewood in a regional semifinal game at 7 p.m. in Monroe on Friday.
