MADISON - The Monroe girls basketball team lost a game of inches in stunning fashion to Winneconne in the WIAA Division 2 state semifinals Friday, 31-30.
After trailing much of the game, Monroe rattled off an 11-0 run, capped by a jumper by Chelsea Brice.
Winneconne came back and senior Maggie Peerenboom hit a 12-foot jumper with under a minute left to lift the Wolves. The Cheesemakers had an unusual final 16 seconds with timeouts, tipped balls and a potential game-winning 3-pointer by Brice that just glanced off the rim.
Winneconne senior Kathryn Koeck threw a home run pass the full length of the floor for a costly turnover with 1.4 seconds left, but senior Hannah Eiden touched the ball before it went out of bounds. The Cheesemakers were forced to go the full length of the court and the inbounds pass to Monroe junior Kylee Ritschard was tipped at the buzzer.
"We win as a team and we lose as a team," said Monroe senior Jamie Armstrong, who had a team-high 12 points and eight blocked shots in her final prep game.
When asked about the late-game call, Monroe coach Kevin Keen was adamant it didn't come down to just one call.
"I don't know. It would've been nice to have that one back and had it under our basket instead of having to go the full length of the floor," Keen said. "But that's part of the game - officials' judgment calls. Unfortunately, everybody is going to harp about that and everybody's going to remember that because it happened at a crucial situation. But we had a three-point lead and didn't take very good care of the ball. It doesn't come down to one play."
Keen coached his final game for the Cheesemakers. He announced his retirement in February after 22 years in coaching and seven state tournament runs.
Fellow senior Ashley Hermanson had a different look than the officials on the final baseball pass.
"I didn't see her touch the ball," Hermanson said. "The refs didn't call it that way and we couldn't do anything to change that. Anything can happen in the last 16 seconds and we just didn't finish it."
The Cheesemakers dug out of a nine-point deficit by going on an 11-0 run from the end of the third quarter that spanned into the fourth quarter. The spurt was highlighted by the Cheesemakers' defense which held the Wolves scoreless for more than eight minutes that spanned from the end of the third quarter into the fourth. The Wolves had five consecutive turnovers to start the fourth quarter that opened the door for the Cheesemakers.
Armstrong drilled a 3-pointer with 5:14 to go that cut the Wolves' lead to 27-26. Brice then made a pinpoint pass to Hermanson, who scored a go-ahead basket that gave the Cheesemakers a 28-27 lead with 4:32 to go. Then Brice knocked down a jumper to give the Cheesemakers a 30-27 lead with 3:57 left.
"In the last one and a half minutes, the wheels were falling off and I was thinking, 'I just want to keep it within seven,'" Winneconne coach Rob Scherrer said. "What a game. Monroe is a very good team. We wanted to play physical with them."
That set the stages for a crazy finish in the waning seconds. With 16 seconds left, Keen said the Cheesemakers set up an inbounds play for Brice to shoot a jumper from the free throw line.
"We were being held and that is why I called the timeout," Keen said. "We just didn't get the breaks we needed."
Winneconne senior Kathryn Koeck, who scored a game-high 14 points, came up with a clutch steal and layup with 1:57 left that sliced the Cheesemakers' lead to 30-29.
Peerenboom's late game heroics ended the Cheesemakers' season.
"If she sagged off, I was planning on shooting the three," Peerenboom said of her game-winning shot. "She came right out on me so I pump-faked and went around and went up with the shot. It looked good right when I shot it, so I was feeling good about it."
The Cheesemakers got off to a slow start with a six-minute scoring drought and had an uncharacteristic four turnovers in their first eight possessions. Armstrong scored down low with about 2 minutes left in the first quarter to tie the game at 2.
The Wolves capitalized by grabbing seven of their 10 offensive rebounds in the first half that led to six second-chance points. The Wolves had two offensive rebounds and a putback by Koeck at the end of the first quarter that gave the Wolves a 5-2 lead.
The Cheesemakers (25-2) shot 2-for-15 in the first half and trailed by as many as nine points after Peerenboom drilled a 3-pointer to give the Wolves a 13-4 lead about midway through the second quarter. Sutter answered by draining a 3-pointer to cut the Wolves' lead to 13-7.
Armstrong buried a 3-pointer with 7:03 left in the third quarter to cut the Wolves' lead to 18-15. Brice then drained a jumper on the next possession to cut the deficit to 2. The Wolves responded when Koeck made a 3-pointer to give Winneconne a 25-17 lead with 4:37 to go in the third.
Monroe senior Gwen Sutter scored 10 points. The Cheesemakers ended up shooting 26.7 percent in the game.
"It was a heck of a battle," Keen said. "It's frustrating for all of us."
Winneconne will play New Berlin Eisenhower in the state championship today at 6:35 p.m.
After trailing much of the game, Monroe rattled off an 11-0 run, capped by a jumper by Chelsea Brice.
Winneconne came back and senior Maggie Peerenboom hit a 12-foot jumper with under a minute left to lift the Wolves. The Cheesemakers had an unusual final 16 seconds with timeouts, tipped balls and a potential game-winning 3-pointer by Brice that just glanced off the rim.
Winneconne senior Kathryn Koeck threw a home run pass the full length of the floor for a costly turnover with 1.4 seconds left, but senior Hannah Eiden touched the ball before it went out of bounds. The Cheesemakers were forced to go the full length of the court and the inbounds pass to Monroe junior Kylee Ritschard was tipped at the buzzer.
"We win as a team and we lose as a team," said Monroe senior Jamie Armstrong, who had a team-high 12 points and eight blocked shots in her final prep game.
When asked about the late-game call, Monroe coach Kevin Keen was adamant it didn't come down to just one call.
"I don't know. It would've been nice to have that one back and had it under our basket instead of having to go the full length of the floor," Keen said. "But that's part of the game - officials' judgment calls. Unfortunately, everybody is going to harp about that and everybody's going to remember that because it happened at a crucial situation. But we had a three-point lead and didn't take very good care of the ball. It doesn't come down to one play."
Keen coached his final game for the Cheesemakers. He announced his retirement in February after 22 years in coaching and seven state tournament runs.
Fellow senior Ashley Hermanson had a different look than the officials on the final baseball pass.
"I didn't see her touch the ball," Hermanson said. "The refs didn't call it that way and we couldn't do anything to change that. Anything can happen in the last 16 seconds and we just didn't finish it."
The Cheesemakers dug out of a nine-point deficit by going on an 11-0 run from the end of the third quarter that spanned into the fourth quarter. The spurt was highlighted by the Cheesemakers' defense which held the Wolves scoreless for more than eight minutes that spanned from the end of the third quarter into the fourth. The Wolves had five consecutive turnovers to start the fourth quarter that opened the door for the Cheesemakers.
Armstrong drilled a 3-pointer with 5:14 to go that cut the Wolves' lead to 27-26. Brice then made a pinpoint pass to Hermanson, who scored a go-ahead basket that gave the Cheesemakers a 28-27 lead with 4:32 to go. Then Brice knocked down a jumper to give the Cheesemakers a 30-27 lead with 3:57 left.
"In the last one and a half minutes, the wheels were falling off and I was thinking, 'I just want to keep it within seven,'" Winneconne coach Rob Scherrer said. "What a game. Monroe is a very good team. We wanted to play physical with them."
That set the stages for a crazy finish in the waning seconds. With 16 seconds left, Keen said the Cheesemakers set up an inbounds play for Brice to shoot a jumper from the free throw line.
"We were being held and that is why I called the timeout," Keen said. "We just didn't get the breaks we needed."
Winneconne senior Kathryn Koeck, who scored a game-high 14 points, came up with a clutch steal and layup with 1:57 left that sliced the Cheesemakers' lead to 30-29.
Peerenboom's late game heroics ended the Cheesemakers' season.
"If she sagged off, I was planning on shooting the three," Peerenboom said of her game-winning shot. "She came right out on me so I pump-faked and went around and went up with the shot. It looked good right when I shot it, so I was feeling good about it."
The Cheesemakers got off to a slow start with a six-minute scoring drought and had an uncharacteristic four turnovers in their first eight possessions. Armstrong scored down low with about 2 minutes left in the first quarter to tie the game at 2.
The Wolves capitalized by grabbing seven of their 10 offensive rebounds in the first half that led to six second-chance points. The Wolves had two offensive rebounds and a putback by Koeck at the end of the first quarter that gave the Wolves a 5-2 lead.
The Cheesemakers (25-2) shot 2-for-15 in the first half and trailed by as many as nine points after Peerenboom drilled a 3-pointer to give the Wolves a 13-4 lead about midway through the second quarter. Sutter answered by draining a 3-pointer to cut the Wolves' lead to 13-7.
Armstrong buried a 3-pointer with 7:03 left in the third quarter to cut the Wolves' lead to 18-15. Brice then drained a jumper on the next possession to cut the deficit to 2. The Wolves responded when Koeck made a 3-pointer to give Winneconne a 25-17 lead with 4:37 to go in the third.
Monroe senior Gwen Sutter scored 10 points. The Cheesemakers ended up shooting 26.7 percent in the game.
"It was a heck of a battle," Keen said. "It's frustrating for all of us."
Winneconne will play New Berlin Eisenhower in the state championship today at 6:35 p.m.
