ASHWAUBENEON - It took a state record-breaking performance from behind the 3-point arc by New Berlin Eisenhower to knock Monroe out of the WIAA Division 2 state semifinal, as the Lions clipped the Cheesemakers 67-63 Friday at the Resch Center.
New Berlin Eisenhower made a Division 2 state record for total 3s (10) and percentage (55.6 percent on 10 of 18 shots).
"A lot of credit to New Berlin Eisenhower for the way they played and the way they shot the ball today," Monroe coach Sam Mathiason said. "I thought it was just a great high school game. I was really proud of the way our kids found a way to battle back in the second half when it kind of looked like pretty dire straits.
"To come in with the expectations they had and to get back here, I'm proud of the way they worked and improved. The effort was there. We just came up a little short. The effort was always there in how we competed."
Monroe junior Sydney Hilliard scored a game-high 25 points and had five rebounds. The Cheesemakers finished their second straight year at state. Last year, Beaver Dam beat Monroe in a Division 2 state semifinal en route to a state championship. Beaver Dam will face New Berlin Eisenhower in the title game today.
"It's amazing," Hilliard said. "Not a lot of people get to experience state once. We were able and lucky enough to get a second year. We will use that as motivation for the next year. I will miss the seniors, but we will use it as motivation."
New Berlin Eisenhower junior Julia Hintz scored a team-high 18 points and drilled five 3s, which was one 3-pointer away from tying the Division 2 state record. Monroe (24-3), making its second straight state appearance, trailed by as many as 11 points in the second half. But the Cheesemakers stormed back and Monroe junior Emily Benzschawel scored on a layup with 51 seconds left to pull the Cheesemakers to within three points at 64-61.
The Cheesemakers called a timeout, and on the ensuing inbound a Monroe player kicked the ball out of bounds. The Lions then received a violation for running the baseline after a dead ball, turning the ball back over to Monroe. Hilliard knocked down two clutch free throws with 34.2 seconds to go to slice the Lions' lead to 64-63.
In the final 15 seconds trailing 66-63, both Monroe junior Emily Benzschawel and sophomore Grace Tostrud missed potential game-tying 3-pointers that could have sent the game to overtime.
"I think my heart was down in my stomach," New Berlin Eisenhower coach Gary Schmidt said. "You hate to think about that (3-pointer going in) because we had the lead most of the game. I was shaken a little bit. Luckily, we are going to championship Saturday because they missed those shots. I'm just glad we persevered tonight."
It was a see-saw battle for most of the first half. Hintz and New Berlin Eisenhower sophomore Erin Hedman hit 3-pointers to give the Lions an early 12-7 lead. Katie Ludwig later poured in a 3-pointer to give the Lions a 17-9 lead. The 3 was set up by a steal by Olivia Canady. The Cheesemakers rallied with Monroe sophomore Grace Mathiason scoring on a layup and Hilliard scoring on a putback to cut the Lions' lead to 17-13.
New Berlin Eisenhower made 9 of 15 3s in the first half and led by seven points or more on several occasions. Hilliard knocked down a jumper to give the Cheesemakers a short-lived 31-30 lead with 2:30 left in the first half. Moments later, Tostrud and Hilliard buried 3s and it looked like the Cheesemakers would go into the half down by one point. However, New Berlin Eisenhower's Nikki Dienberg hit a 3 right before the horn to give the Lions a 38-34 lead at the break.
"Any team that shoots 9 of 15 from the 3-point line, you think that is pretty impressive," Sam Mathiason said. "We needed to be better defensively. They were obviously better offensively. The game of basketball is a game of runs. We were pushing towards it. We just didn't have enough answers."
Hintz made four of her five 3-pointers in the first half.
"You look at their last nine of 10 games you could tell they had shot it well and Hintz had multiple games with four 3s," Sam Mathiason said. "I'm not surprised. She (Hintz) was feeling it. You just hope a team is not able to make that many over that course of time."
The Lions opened the second half on a 12-5 run to open up an 11-point lead. Hintz drilled a 3 and scored on a layup. A few minutes later, Hedman scored on a layup to give the Lions a 45-34 lead with 15:51 left.
Monroe trailed by 10 points with 6:56 left. After Emily Benzschawel sank two free throws, her freshman sister Megan Benzschawel converted a conventional three-point play to cut the Lions' lead to three-points, 60-57.
The Cheesemakers shot 45.3 percent in the game (24 of 53) and New Berlin Eisenhower shot 48.8 percent (20 of 41). Megan Benzschawel added 11 points, Tostrud chipped in 8 points and had four rebounds, and Emily Benzschawel had 8 points before fouled out in the second half.
Senior Sydney Mathiason finished her final prep game with 5 points and 8 rebounds. She battled foul trouble throughout the second half. She picked up her third foul with 12:28 left in the second half and got her fourth foul with 8:38 to go. She sat on the bench for a couple of minutes but came back and played the final 6 minutes without picking up her fifth foul.
"Obviously, it's something in your mind," Sydney Mathiason said of being in foul trouble. "I didn't want to foul out in what may have been my last game. I wanted to work hard and not get fouls."
New Berlin Eisenhower senior Hannah Plockelman had a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds. Hedman pitched in 10 points.
The record-breaking hot shooting performance by the Lions was a consolation.
"It's very humbling they had to shoot that well to beat us," Sydney Mathiason said of New Berlin Eisenhower. "We are still upset about the loss."
Mathiason will cherish her four-year run with Monroe and the back-to-back state tournament berths.
"Just being able to play at the state tournament and spending time with four great teams," she said are aspects of her career she will always remember.
Coach Mathiason enjoyed coaching his daughter Sydney all four years of her prep career.
"You know you put in time and effort," Sam Mathiason said. "Being the coach's daughter is not always the easiest gig you can have. I'm proud of the effort and all she's done over the course of her four years. It will be hard and it will be different. I know she gave it her all and competed throughout. I'm just proud of where she developed from a freshman to now to a lot of the things she does to help make the team better."
Megan Benzschawel tried to fight off the tears after the loss.
"They did a great job of shooting the ball," Megan Benzschawel said. "We knew they would be tough to stop."
Sam Mathiason just wanted to remind everyone what they have accomplished as a team.
"Last year coming for this group it was their first time," he said. "Everything kind of felt like a rush. This year it had a great feeling to it. I had a great feeling going into today. You have that extra feeling and little bounce you get from doing this. It's hard to be able to end it this way. You want to have that chance to take a ball home and play one more day. To get back here and do all the things this team has done you just feel blessed to have the opportunity to be a part of it and make the most of it."
New Berlin Eisenhower made a Division 2 state record for total 3s (10) and percentage (55.6 percent on 10 of 18 shots).
"A lot of credit to New Berlin Eisenhower for the way they played and the way they shot the ball today," Monroe coach Sam Mathiason said. "I thought it was just a great high school game. I was really proud of the way our kids found a way to battle back in the second half when it kind of looked like pretty dire straits.
"To come in with the expectations they had and to get back here, I'm proud of the way they worked and improved. The effort was there. We just came up a little short. The effort was always there in how we competed."
Monroe junior Sydney Hilliard scored a game-high 25 points and had five rebounds. The Cheesemakers finished their second straight year at state. Last year, Beaver Dam beat Monroe in a Division 2 state semifinal en route to a state championship. Beaver Dam will face New Berlin Eisenhower in the title game today.
"It's amazing," Hilliard said. "Not a lot of people get to experience state once. We were able and lucky enough to get a second year. We will use that as motivation for the next year. I will miss the seniors, but we will use it as motivation."
New Berlin Eisenhower junior Julia Hintz scored a team-high 18 points and drilled five 3s, which was one 3-pointer away from tying the Division 2 state record. Monroe (24-3), making its second straight state appearance, trailed by as many as 11 points in the second half. But the Cheesemakers stormed back and Monroe junior Emily Benzschawel scored on a layup with 51 seconds left to pull the Cheesemakers to within three points at 64-61.
The Cheesemakers called a timeout, and on the ensuing inbound a Monroe player kicked the ball out of bounds. The Lions then received a violation for running the baseline after a dead ball, turning the ball back over to Monroe. Hilliard knocked down two clutch free throws with 34.2 seconds to go to slice the Lions' lead to 64-63.
In the final 15 seconds trailing 66-63, both Monroe junior Emily Benzschawel and sophomore Grace Tostrud missed potential game-tying 3-pointers that could have sent the game to overtime.
"I think my heart was down in my stomach," New Berlin Eisenhower coach Gary Schmidt said. "You hate to think about that (3-pointer going in) because we had the lead most of the game. I was shaken a little bit. Luckily, we are going to championship Saturday because they missed those shots. I'm just glad we persevered tonight."
It was a see-saw battle for most of the first half. Hintz and New Berlin Eisenhower sophomore Erin Hedman hit 3-pointers to give the Lions an early 12-7 lead. Katie Ludwig later poured in a 3-pointer to give the Lions a 17-9 lead. The 3 was set up by a steal by Olivia Canady. The Cheesemakers rallied with Monroe sophomore Grace Mathiason scoring on a layup and Hilliard scoring on a putback to cut the Lions' lead to 17-13.
New Berlin Eisenhower made 9 of 15 3s in the first half and led by seven points or more on several occasions. Hilliard knocked down a jumper to give the Cheesemakers a short-lived 31-30 lead with 2:30 left in the first half. Moments later, Tostrud and Hilliard buried 3s and it looked like the Cheesemakers would go into the half down by one point. However, New Berlin Eisenhower's Nikki Dienberg hit a 3 right before the horn to give the Lions a 38-34 lead at the break.
"Any team that shoots 9 of 15 from the 3-point line, you think that is pretty impressive," Sam Mathiason said. "We needed to be better defensively. They were obviously better offensively. The game of basketball is a game of runs. We were pushing towards it. We just didn't have enough answers."
Hintz made four of her five 3-pointers in the first half.
"You look at their last nine of 10 games you could tell they had shot it well and Hintz had multiple games with four 3s," Sam Mathiason said. "I'm not surprised. She (Hintz) was feeling it. You just hope a team is not able to make that many over that course of time."
The Lions opened the second half on a 12-5 run to open up an 11-point lead. Hintz drilled a 3 and scored on a layup. A few minutes later, Hedman scored on a layup to give the Lions a 45-34 lead with 15:51 left.
Monroe trailed by 10 points with 6:56 left. After Emily Benzschawel sank two free throws, her freshman sister Megan Benzschawel converted a conventional three-point play to cut the Lions' lead to three-points, 60-57.
The Cheesemakers shot 45.3 percent in the game (24 of 53) and New Berlin Eisenhower shot 48.8 percent (20 of 41). Megan Benzschawel added 11 points, Tostrud chipped in 8 points and had four rebounds, and Emily Benzschawel had 8 points before fouled out in the second half.
Senior Sydney Mathiason finished her final prep game with 5 points and 8 rebounds. She battled foul trouble throughout the second half. She picked up her third foul with 12:28 left in the second half and got her fourth foul with 8:38 to go. She sat on the bench for a couple of minutes but came back and played the final 6 minutes without picking up her fifth foul.
"Obviously, it's something in your mind," Sydney Mathiason said of being in foul trouble. "I didn't want to foul out in what may have been my last game. I wanted to work hard and not get fouls."
New Berlin Eisenhower senior Hannah Plockelman had a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds. Hedman pitched in 10 points.
The record-breaking hot shooting performance by the Lions was a consolation.
"It's very humbling they had to shoot that well to beat us," Sydney Mathiason said of New Berlin Eisenhower. "We are still upset about the loss."
Mathiason will cherish her four-year run with Monroe and the back-to-back state tournament berths.
"Just being able to play at the state tournament and spending time with four great teams," she said are aspects of her career she will always remember.
Coach Mathiason enjoyed coaching his daughter Sydney all four years of her prep career.
"You know you put in time and effort," Sam Mathiason said. "Being the coach's daughter is not always the easiest gig you can have. I'm proud of the effort and all she's done over the course of her four years. It will be hard and it will be different. I know she gave it her all and competed throughout. I'm just proud of where she developed from a freshman to now to a lot of the things she does to help make the team better."
Megan Benzschawel tried to fight off the tears after the loss.
"They did a great job of shooting the ball," Megan Benzschawel said. "We knew they would be tough to stop."
Sam Mathiason just wanted to remind everyone what they have accomplished as a team.
"Last year coming for this group it was their first time," he said. "Everything kind of felt like a rush. This year it had a great feeling to it. I had a great feeling going into today. You have that extra feeling and little bounce you get from doing this. It's hard to be able to end it this way. You want to have that chance to take a ball home and play one more day. To get back here and do all the things this team has done you just feel blessed to have the opportunity to be a part of it and make the most of it."
