MONROE - Every possession matters in a playoff basketball game. Just ask Monroe coach Pat Murphy after the Cheesemakers lost a heartbreaking WIAA Division 2 regional quarterfinal to Oregon 37-35 on Tuesday.
"We have played Oregon three times this year and each game has been in the 30s," Murphy said. "If you have a bad possession, it's blown up even more. It's tough to swallow. I want to thank our seven seniors. They didn't give up. It wasn't because of a lack of effort."
Oregon made 4 of 5 free throws in the final 32.7 seconds to seal the win, compared to 1 of 3 for the Cheesemakers. Monroe senior Charlie Kind scored a team-high 12 points and freshman Alex Tordoff gave the Cheesemakers a spark scoring nine points.
"We thought if we won the fourth quarter, we would win the game," Kind said. "We won the fourth quarter, but we just needed a couple of more points. We just didn't get it done. I only get to play high school basketball once. It's an experience you will never forget."
Tordoff scored on a layup on a pass from senior Jake Hirsbrunner with 2 minutes to go to give the Cheesemakers a 32-31 lead. The Cheesemakers (9-14) had a couple of golden opportunities late in the fourth quarter to tie the game. Tordoff missed the front end of two one-and-one free throws in the final 41.5 seconds with the Cheesemakers trailing by two points. With the Cheesemakers trailing 35-32, Oregon senior Shaw Storey came up with a steal with 21.7 seconds to go that helped clinch the win for the Panthers (12-11). After the heartbreaking loss, Tordoff was still thinking about the two free throws he missed.
"When we get to the free throw line we have to be able to knock every one of them down," Tordoff said. "That cost us the game. Sometimes our plays don't go as we want them to go. We have to do a better job of executing. I had a great time playing with the seniors and hate to see them go."
The Cheesemakers struggled shooting the ball from the outside and senior Kylan Helmeid was the only player to hit a 3-pointer. Monroe's Alex Hendrickson, Helmeid and Hirsbrunner each scored four points in their final game. Hendrickson banked in a shot at 4 minutes, 54 seconds in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 26. Kind then banked in a jumper midway through the fourth to give the Cheesemakers a 28-26 lead.
Monroe senior Noah Tostrud and the Cheesemakers bottled up the Panthers' leading scorer, Andrew McCauley, limiting him to just two points. McCauley entered the game averaging nine points per game. Oregon senior Jonathan Conduah scored a team-high 10 points to lead the Panthers.
"Their seniors did a good job of making free throws in the end," Murphy said. "We wanted to try to take the ball to the basket. We just didn't make enough plays."
The loss still stings for Murphy because he was confident a senior-laden team had the chance to make a run.
"We competed," Murphy said. "We came to work every day. It was obvious in our record that we were up and down. I wish we could have been a little more consistent. We never could play back-to-back games like we wanted. That's high school sports. It's going to be a long offseason to think about what happened."
"We have played Oregon three times this year and each game has been in the 30s," Murphy said. "If you have a bad possession, it's blown up even more. It's tough to swallow. I want to thank our seven seniors. They didn't give up. It wasn't because of a lack of effort."
Oregon made 4 of 5 free throws in the final 32.7 seconds to seal the win, compared to 1 of 3 for the Cheesemakers. Monroe senior Charlie Kind scored a team-high 12 points and freshman Alex Tordoff gave the Cheesemakers a spark scoring nine points.
"We thought if we won the fourth quarter, we would win the game," Kind said. "We won the fourth quarter, but we just needed a couple of more points. We just didn't get it done. I only get to play high school basketball once. It's an experience you will never forget."
Tordoff scored on a layup on a pass from senior Jake Hirsbrunner with 2 minutes to go to give the Cheesemakers a 32-31 lead. The Cheesemakers (9-14) had a couple of golden opportunities late in the fourth quarter to tie the game. Tordoff missed the front end of two one-and-one free throws in the final 41.5 seconds with the Cheesemakers trailing by two points. With the Cheesemakers trailing 35-32, Oregon senior Shaw Storey came up with a steal with 21.7 seconds to go that helped clinch the win for the Panthers (12-11). After the heartbreaking loss, Tordoff was still thinking about the two free throws he missed.
"When we get to the free throw line we have to be able to knock every one of them down," Tordoff said. "That cost us the game. Sometimes our plays don't go as we want them to go. We have to do a better job of executing. I had a great time playing with the seniors and hate to see them go."
The Cheesemakers struggled shooting the ball from the outside and senior Kylan Helmeid was the only player to hit a 3-pointer. Monroe's Alex Hendrickson, Helmeid and Hirsbrunner each scored four points in their final game. Hendrickson banked in a shot at 4 minutes, 54 seconds in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 26. Kind then banked in a jumper midway through the fourth to give the Cheesemakers a 28-26 lead.
Monroe senior Noah Tostrud and the Cheesemakers bottled up the Panthers' leading scorer, Andrew McCauley, limiting him to just two points. McCauley entered the game averaging nine points per game. Oregon senior Jonathan Conduah scored a team-high 10 points to lead the Panthers.
"Their seniors did a good job of making free throws in the end," Murphy said. "We wanted to try to take the ball to the basket. We just didn't make enough plays."
The loss still stings for Murphy because he was confident a senior-laden team had the chance to make a run.
"We competed," Murphy said. "We came to work every day. It was obvious in our record that we were up and down. I wish we could have been a little more consistent. We never could play back-to-back games like we wanted. That's high school sports. It's going to be a long offseason to think about what happened."
