MONROE - News, whether good or bad, came in big doses for Kevin Keen's Lady Cheesemakers Tuesday night.
Behind the continued hot shooting of Emily Rufenacht, Monroe stormed out to a 36-20 halftime lead in what turned out to be a Badger South-clinching 71-41 victory over Stoughton at home.
The conference title is Monroe's fifth straight and marks the second consecutive year that both the boys and girls teams have worn their respective conference crowns.
"We lost their two senior guards (Marissa Young and Sydnee Wyss) and I don't think a lot of people gave us a chance of coming back and battling for another conference championship this year," Keen said.
Rufenacht, who had no field goals in her previous two games before catching fire in Saturday's loss at Freeport, hit an early triple, the first of four, and never looked back on her way to a game-high 18 points.
"She got out of the blocks early," Keen said, "but we had five people in double figures and got a lot of people involved."
The Monroe bench scored 29 points, including 13 from freshman point guard Kyleigh Sellnow, who pitched in with two 3s of her own.
While the defensive end didn't quite match the caliber of the offensive flurry, the Cheesemakers ball coach was still plenty pleased.
"I felt we did an adequate job defensively, but did a great job offensively, moving the ball and using transition to get buckets," Keen said.
The only thing that could offset some bad news in the third quarter was finding out that Verona fell victim to Madison Edgewood, 58-53, putting the Wildcats a full game behind the Cheesemakers in the Badger South.
That update, however, came about an hour after Monroe's standout sophomore, Jamie Armstrong, went down with her second ankle injury in as many games.
After spraining her left ankle in Saturday's twist with the Pretzels, the 6-2 post came down badly on her right ankle after Stoughton missed a free throw and was examined after the game at Monroe Clinic.
"We'll just wait and see and hope for the best," Keen said, "but at least we got some good news tonight."
With a victory over Monona Grove at home Friday, Monroe can secure its title outright.
Behind the continued hot shooting of Emily Rufenacht, Monroe stormed out to a 36-20 halftime lead in what turned out to be a Badger South-clinching 71-41 victory over Stoughton at home.
The conference title is Monroe's fifth straight and marks the second consecutive year that both the boys and girls teams have worn their respective conference crowns.
"We lost their two senior guards (Marissa Young and Sydnee Wyss) and I don't think a lot of people gave us a chance of coming back and battling for another conference championship this year," Keen said.
Rufenacht, who had no field goals in her previous two games before catching fire in Saturday's loss at Freeport, hit an early triple, the first of four, and never looked back on her way to a game-high 18 points.
"She got out of the blocks early," Keen said, "but we had five people in double figures and got a lot of people involved."
The Monroe bench scored 29 points, including 13 from freshman point guard Kyleigh Sellnow, who pitched in with two 3s of her own.
While the defensive end didn't quite match the caliber of the offensive flurry, the Cheesemakers ball coach was still plenty pleased.
"I felt we did an adequate job defensively, but did a great job offensively, moving the ball and using transition to get buckets," Keen said.
The only thing that could offset some bad news in the third quarter was finding out that Verona fell victim to Madison Edgewood, 58-53, putting the Wildcats a full game behind the Cheesemakers in the Badger South.
That update, however, came about an hour after Monroe's standout sophomore, Jamie Armstrong, went down with her second ankle injury in as many games.
After spraining her left ankle in Saturday's twist with the Pretzels, the 6-2 post came down badly on her right ankle after Stoughton missed a free throw and was examined after the game at Monroe Clinic.
"We'll just wait and see and hope for the best," Keen said, "but at least we got some good news tonight."
With a victory over Monona Grove at home Friday, Monroe can secure its title outright.
