MONROE - Playing for a conference championship on their home court on Senior Night Tuesday was the chance Monroe coach Pat Murphy and the Cheesemakers wanted.
The dream of winning a Badger South Conference championship at home was dashed after Milton junior Noah Johnson banked in a 3-pointer near halfcourt at the buzzer to stun the Cheesemakers 44-41. Monroe is tied with Monona Grove for the Badger South Conference lead and will need a win at Madison Edgewood on Friday to earn a share of the title.
"It's heartbreaking," Murphy said. "It's a game of inches. It's not how we wanted to finish our season. It's obviously not how we wanted our Senior Night to go."
Monroe (15-6, 7-4 Badger South) had one foul to give before the game-winning shot. Murphy said the Cheesemakers talked about having one more foul to give.
"It's a situation where you know they will have one dribble and you don't want to foul them in the act of shooting. It's just like the Badgers," Murphy said referencing Wisconsin's game where Ben Brust hit a shot just inside midcourt against Michigan to send the game to overtime before the Badgers pulled out a 65-62 upset. "When they got the ball there was 1.8 seconds on the clock and then they changed it to 2.8 seconds. This team has had to deal with more adversity than any team I know."
The loss may have come at a cost for the Cheesemakers. Monroe senior Joe Latimer, the Cheesemakers' leading scorer at 15.7 points per game, injured his knee 1 minute, 22 seconds into the game and didn't return. Latimer came out for the second half on crutches and sat on the bench. Murphy said it's probably more than a sprain, but he's unsure how severe the injury will be.
"It's hard to speculate," Murphy said. "It's not good. It's bad. We will know more tomorrow."
Monroe senior Trent Wyssbrod missed a shot on a drive in the lane with 2.8 seconds to go that could have given the Cheesemakers the lead.
"It's hard to call fouls at the end of the game," said Wyssbrod who scored a team-high 10 points. "You can't blame the refs. I just have to fight through it."
Wyssbrod was disappointed the Cheesemakers couldn't close out a share of the conference championship on their home court, and with Latimer's injury.
"That's been our whole season," Wyssbrod said. "We have had to fight through adversity. It hurts when you know you can win conference in the last regular season game at home."
Johnson scored 11 of his 12 points in the second half as the Red Hawks fed the ball inside. The Cheesemakers missed Latimer's defensive presence just as much as his offense.
"I think we got hurt on defense," Murphy said. "I don't know if we played them as good as we could have inside."
Even without Latimer, the Cheesemakers were aggressive attacking the basket in the first half. The Cheesemakers went 9 of 15 from the free throw line in the first half to build a 24-15 lead at the half. Milton's Luke Ganz scored eight of his 12 points in the first half. The Cheesemakers finished just 12 of 23 from the charity stripe.
The Cheesemakers got off to a strong start in the third quarter after senior Alex Barenklau hit a jumper with 4:06 left in the third quarter to give the Cheesemakers a 30-19 lead. The Red Hawks went on an 8-0 run at the end of the third quarter to get within striking distance. Milton junior Connor Bowen drilled a 3-pointer and James Spy converted a three-point play after a steal to spark the Red Hawks. Milton senior Evan Phillips scored on a putback late in the third quarter to slice the Cheesemakers' lead to 32-31 at the end of the period. That set the stages for a thrilling finish.
"They just got the ball inside and finished it," Wyssbrod said. "We just couldn't stop them."
Monroe junior Charlie Kind scored nine points and junior Jake Hirsbrunner added eight points.
Monroe has lost two straight games and three of the last five. The Cheesemakers will need a win at Madison Edgewood Friday possibly without Latimer to get a share of the conference title.
"We still have one more chance," Murphy said. "We will see what we are made of for sure now. We have to grow up in a hurry and some of the younger guys have to step up. It's tough."
The dream of winning a Badger South Conference championship at home was dashed after Milton junior Noah Johnson banked in a 3-pointer near halfcourt at the buzzer to stun the Cheesemakers 44-41. Monroe is tied with Monona Grove for the Badger South Conference lead and will need a win at Madison Edgewood on Friday to earn a share of the title.
"It's heartbreaking," Murphy said. "It's a game of inches. It's not how we wanted to finish our season. It's obviously not how we wanted our Senior Night to go."
Monroe (15-6, 7-4 Badger South) had one foul to give before the game-winning shot. Murphy said the Cheesemakers talked about having one more foul to give.
"It's a situation where you know they will have one dribble and you don't want to foul them in the act of shooting. It's just like the Badgers," Murphy said referencing Wisconsin's game where Ben Brust hit a shot just inside midcourt against Michigan to send the game to overtime before the Badgers pulled out a 65-62 upset. "When they got the ball there was 1.8 seconds on the clock and then they changed it to 2.8 seconds. This team has had to deal with more adversity than any team I know."
The loss may have come at a cost for the Cheesemakers. Monroe senior Joe Latimer, the Cheesemakers' leading scorer at 15.7 points per game, injured his knee 1 minute, 22 seconds into the game and didn't return. Latimer came out for the second half on crutches and sat on the bench. Murphy said it's probably more than a sprain, but he's unsure how severe the injury will be.
"It's hard to speculate," Murphy said. "It's not good. It's bad. We will know more tomorrow."
Monroe senior Trent Wyssbrod missed a shot on a drive in the lane with 2.8 seconds to go that could have given the Cheesemakers the lead.
"It's hard to call fouls at the end of the game," said Wyssbrod who scored a team-high 10 points. "You can't blame the refs. I just have to fight through it."
Wyssbrod was disappointed the Cheesemakers couldn't close out a share of the conference championship on their home court, and with Latimer's injury.
"That's been our whole season," Wyssbrod said. "We have had to fight through adversity. It hurts when you know you can win conference in the last regular season game at home."
Johnson scored 11 of his 12 points in the second half as the Red Hawks fed the ball inside. The Cheesemakers missed Latimer's defensive presence just as much as his offense.
"I think we got hurt on defense," Murphy said. "I don't know if we played them as good as we could have inside."
Even without Latimer, the Cheesemakers were aggressive attacking the basket in the first half. The Cheesemakers went 9 of 15 from the free throw line in the first half to build a 24-15 lead at the half. Milton's Luke Ganz scored eight of his 12 points in the first half. The Cheesemakers finished just 12 of 23 from the charity stripe.
The Cheesemakers got off to a strong start in the third quarter after senior Alex Barenklau hit a jumper with 4:06 left in the third quarter to give the Cheesemakers a 30-19 lead. The Red Hawks went on an 8-0 run at the end of the third quarter to get within striking distance. Milton junior Connor Bowen drilled a 3-pointer and James Spy converted a three-point play after a steal to spark the Red Hawks. Milton senior Evan Phillips scored on a putback late in the third quarter to slice the Cheesemakers' lead to 32-31 at the end of the period. That set the stages for a thrilling finish.
"They just got the ball inside and finished it," Wyssbrod said. "We just couldn't stop them."
Monroe junior Charlie Kind scored nine points and junior Jake Hirsbrunner added eight points.
Monroe has lost two straight games and three of the last five. The Cheesemakers will need a win at Madison Edgewood Friday possibly without Latimer to get a share of the conference title.
"We still have one more chance," Murphy said. "We will see what we are made of for sure now. We have to grow up in a hurry and some of the younger guys have to step up. It's tough."
