MONROE - Ashley Hermanson feels her Cheesemaker boys' recent pain. With five minutes left in Friday night's ballgame, her run at perfection also came up short with a clang of the rim.
But the Monroe sophomore post will take a 11-for-12 shooting night and a fifth straight Badger South Conference title as her club was never challenged in a 53-32 victory over Monona Grove.
"It really just came to me," Hermanson said, "I was feeling good inside and everyone kept getting the ball to me."
Hermanson scored a 20 points through three quarters, half her team's output at that point, and overcame double-teams and the absence of her classmate and partner-in-crime in the paint, Jamie Armstrong, who will miss at least one more game with a high right ankle sprain. Hermanson's 22 total points were a career high.
"She's the one that from the beginning of the season has not stopped making strides," Monroe coach Kevin Keen said. "She's learned to use her body and how to protect the ball and I couldn't be more proud."
Sixth-person extraordinaire Kyleigh Sellnow made the most of her first start and no one was happier to see her in the starting lineup than Hermanson. The freshman point guard assisted on all four of Hermanson's second-quarter field goals as the Cheesemakers opened up to a 27-16 halftime lead.
Sellnow had seven assists in the first half alone, 10 total.
"She's been coming on and had a few good games for us lately," Keen said. "With Jamie being out, we knew there'd be opportunities for people."
Sellnow opened the second quarter with a 3-pointer from the left corner before lending the reins to Hermanson. The workmanlike post bookended a Rufenacht 3-pointer with point-blank buckets, the second coming over a double-team to cap a 10-0 flurry.
After Monona Grove sophomore and physical specimen Angela Boushea scored a hoop with harm and made good on the freebie, Rufenacht splashed another triple right of the circle to counter and seize a 23-10 lead.
Rufenacht continued to sizzle from the perimeter, hitting five threes from all angles and chasing down 50-50 balls to reset possessions. The cold-blooded junior has scored 48 points on 13 3-pointers over her last three games and was 5-for-8 from beyond the arc Friday night. She also hit both of her free throws to finish second to Hermanson with 16 points.
And that was nothing compared to the inferno she lit in the locker room beforehand.
"Emily got us really fired up for this one and it was phenomenal to watch her shoot," Hermanson said.
A sharpshooter who doesn't need a lot of room to begin with, Rufenacht got all sorts of room to roam thanks to Hermanson's dominance. Hermanson scored six points during an 11-2 Monroe run to open the third quarter of play. Even when Sellnow wasn't deliberately feeding the ball inside, her looks still found the 6-footer as a 3-point try from the right corner was collected by Hermanson and put home. Moments later, she banged off contact inside to hit a pretty fadeaway and force a Silver Eagles timeout.
For the second time in five days and for the second consecutive year, Keen's gang followed Pat Murphy's guys by cutting down the nets. After losing an outstanding senior starting backcourt to graduation in Marissa Young and Sydnee Wyss, Keen gushed afterward about his team's progress from fundamentals to clinching the big number five.
"I've been proud of every team I've coached, but at the beginning of the year we didn't even know if we could play man-to-man," Keen said. "We've come a long way. This one wasn't as expected as the others."
But the Monroe sophomore post will take a 11-for-12 shooting night and a fifth straight Badger South Conference title as her club was never challenged in a 53-32 victory over Monona Grove.
"It really just came to me," Hermanson said, "I was feeling good inside and everyone kept getting the ball to me."
Hermanson scored a 20 points through three quarters, half her team's output at that point, and overcame double-teams and the absence of her classmate and partner-in-crime in the paint, Jamie Armstrong, who will miss at least one more game with a high right ankle sprain. Hermanson's 22 total points were a career high.
"She's the one that from the beginning of the season has not stopped making strides," Monroe coach Kevin Keen said. "She's learned to use her body and how to protect the ball and I couldn't be more proud."
Sixth-person extraordinaire Kyleigh Sellnow made the most of her first start and no one was happier to see her in the starting lineup than Hermanson. The freshman point guard assisted on all four of Hermanson's second-quarter field goals as the Cheesemakers opened up to a 27-16 halftime lead.
Sellnow had seven assists in the first half alone, 10 total.
"She's been coming on and had a few good games for us lately," Keen said. "With Jamie being out, we knew there'd be opportunities for people."
Sellnow opened the second quarter with a 3-pointer from the left corner before lending the reins to Hermanson. The workmanlike post bookended a Rufenacht 3-pointer with point-blank buckets, the second coming over a double-team to cap a 10-0 flurry.
After Monona Grove sophomore and physical specimen Angela Boushea scored a hoop with harm and made good on the freebie, Rufenacht splashed another triple right of the circle to counter and seize a 23-10 lead.
Rufenacht continued to sizzle from the perimeter, hitting five threes from all angles and chasing down 50-50 balls to reset possessions. The cold-blooded junior has scored 48 points on 13 3-pointers over her last three games and was 5-for-8 from beyond the arc Friday night. She also hit both of her free throws to finish second to Hermanson with 16 points.
And that was nothing compared to the inferno she lit in the locker room beforehand.
"Emily got us really fired up for this one and it was phenomenal to watch her shoot," Hermanson said.
A sharpshooter who doesn't need a lot of room to begin with, Rufenacht got all sorts of room to roam thanks to Hermanson's dominance. Hermanson scored six points during an 11-2 Monroe run to open the third quarter of play. Even when Sellnow wasn't deliberately feeding the ball inside, her looks still found the 6-footer as a 3-point try from the right corner was collected by Hermanson and put home. Moments later, she banged off contact inside to hit a pretty fadeaway and force a Silver Eagles timeout.
For the second time in five days and for the second consecutive year, Keen's gang followed Pat Murphy's guys by cutting down the nets. After losing an outstanding senior starting backcourt to graduation in Marissa Young and Sydnee Wyss, Keen gushed afterward about his team's progress from fundamentals to clinching the big number five.
"I've been proud of every team I've coached, but at the beginning of the year we didn't even know if we could play man-to-man," Keen said. "We've come a long way. This one wasn't as expected as the others."
