MONROE - Basketball will take center stage as the fifth annual Monroe Summer Shootout tips off this weekend.
There will be 45 junior varsity and varsity basketball teams in town for the tournament this weekend at Monroe High School and Monroe Middle School. Monroe will have two teams in a 24-team junior varsity tournament in gyms at the high school and middle school. The Monroe Red JV team will play Monticello at 9 a.m. Saturday and Marshall at 10 a.m. The Monroe White team will play New Glarus at 9 a.m. Saturday and Poynette at 11 a.m.
The Monroe Summer Shootout will have a 21-team varsity tournament Sunday. Monroe will play Wisconsin Heights at 8 a.m. Sunday and Albany at 11 a.m. in pool play at the high school.
"We want them to play five games in a day because that means they are playing in the championship game," Monroe coach Pat Murphy said. "We want to see who will take advantage of the opportunity."
Murphy and the Cheesemaker coaching staff have used three of their five summer contact days. Murphy will have his coaching staff use their fourth contact day as the Monroe varsity team will be coached by Brian Bassett and Ken Gratz. High school basketball coaches are only allowed a certain number of days under WIAA rules to have instructional time with their players. Monroe has two teams playing in the Monroe summer league on Thursday nights. In the tournament this weekend, Monroe will showcase one varsity team and two JV teams. For Murphy, the tournament isn't all about winning.
"The summer is for individual and team development," Murphy said. "All we can do is give them a chance. You want as many kids playing in the summer as possible. We are just looking for some consistency. We want to compete hard."
After two games of pool play, teams will be divided into No. 1-, 2- and 3-seed eight-team tournament brackets. Basketball games start at 8 a.m. and continue all day, with the championship game at 4 p.m. Saturday in the JV tournament, and at 5 p.m. for the varsity tournament Sunday.
With high school football practices set to start a week earlier this fall on Aug. 3, there is more urgency to take advantage of the time to work on basketball skills.
"In reality there is not a lot of time," Murphy said of working on basketball skills. "The window of opportunity to get better seems like it's getting smaller and smaller."
All day tickets are $3 for seventh graders to adults.
There will be 45 junior varsity and varsity basketball teams in town for the tournament this weekend at Monroe High School and Monroe Middle School. Monroe will have two teams in a 24-team junior varsity tournament in gyms at the high school and middle school. The Monroe Red JV team will play Monticello at 9 a.m. Saturday and Marshall at 10 a.m. The Monroe White team will play New Glarus at 9 a.m. Saturday and Poynette at 11 a.m.
The Monroe Summer Shootout will have a 21-team varsity tournament Sunday. Monroe will play Wisconsin Heights at 8 a.m. Sunday and Albany at 11 a.m. in pool play at the high school.
"We want them to play five games in a day because that means they are playing in the championship game," Monroe coach Pat Murphy said. "We want to see who will take advantage of the opportunity."
Murphy and the Cheesemaker coaching staff have used three of their five summer contact days. Murphy will have his coaching staff use their fourth contact day as the Monroe varsity team will be coached by Brian Bassett and Ken Gratz. High school basketball coaches are only allowed a certain number of days under WIAA rules to have instructional time with their players. Monroe has two teams playing in the Monroe summer league on Thursday nights. In the tournament this weekend, Monroe will showcase one varsity team and two JV teams. For Murphy, the tournament isn't all about winning.
"The summer is for individual and team development," Murphy said. "All we can do is give them a chance. You want as many kids playing in the summer as possible. We are just looking for some consistency. We want to compete hard."
After two games of pool play, teams will be divided into No. 1-, 2- and 3-seed eight-team tournament brackets. Basketball games start at 8 a.m. and continue all day, with the championship game at 4 p.m. Saturday in the JV tournament, and at 5 p.m. for the varsity tournament Sunday.
With high school football practices set to start a week earlier this fall on Aug. 3, there is more urgency to take advantage of the time to work on basketball skills.
"In reality there is not a lot of time," Murphy said of working on basketball skills. "The window of opportunity to get better seems like it's getting smaller and smaller."
All day tickets are $3 for seventh graders to adults.
