MONROE - There were many coaching moments to take away after Monroe stormed back from a 22-point deficit before the improbable comeback bid fell short in a 57-49 overtime loss to Stoughton Saturday, Dec. 7.
"I just call it an attitude about life," Monroe coach Pat Murphy said. "If we were going to go down, we were going to go down fighting. It's a life lesson. We didn't fold it up. It says something about the guys being fearless and tough until the end."
The Cheesemakers (1-3, 1-1 Badger South) overcame a 22-point deficit to the Vikings (5-0) by hitting nine 3-pointers in the second half. Monroe senior Jake Hirsbrunner, who scored all 14 of his points in the second half, drilled a 3-pointer and senior Charlie Kind came up with a steal and layup to slice the Vikings' lead to 40-33 with 2:58 left. Hirsbrunner drilled a 3-pointer with 2:25 to go to cut the Vikings' lead to 40-36 with 2:25 to left.
Monroe senior Kylan Helmeid scored on a putback with 54.9 seconds to go and was fouled. He converted the conventional three-point play by knocking down the free throw to tie the game at 41. Stoughton's P.J. Rosowski missed a fade away jumper from the baseline at the buzzer.
The Cheesemakers came back to take a brief lead after Kevin Noriega's three-point play with 3:03 left in overtime gave the Cheesemakers a 44-42 lead.
Stoughton's 6-foot, 8-inch junior Nick McGlynn, who scored 17 points, had 12 rebounds and five blocks, made two free throws with 1:50 to go to give the Vikings a 47-44 lead. The Vikings, who made a state tournament run last year, made 10 of 12 free throws in the final 1:13 to seal the win. Stoughton senior Will Clark, who finished with 11 points, made 7 of 8 free throws down the stretch to ice it.
"I like our team. I don't like seeing our guys get pushed around," Murphy said. "The game started with us getting pushed around and it ended with us getting pushed around. We are not in it for moral victories either. In our league, if you don't play four quarters you are not going to beat anyone. I will take the responsibility as the coach for not having them ready to play."
Kind scored 14 of his team-high 16 points in the second half and Helmeid scored all 14 of his points in the second half.
Hirsbrunner said the biggest difference in the second half was the intensity the Cheesemakers played with.
"What got us going on offense was our defense," Hirsbrunner said. "We cranked it up on defense. This is a first for me. I have never been down by 22 points and then up by two points at one point. If we can crank up the intensity for four quarters and not just two quarters we can definitely be a deadly team."
Early on, the Vikings bottled up Monroe with a 1-3-1 zone. Kind and senior Noah Thompson each scored to give the Cheesemakers an early 4-0 lead. The Cheesemakers went more than 14 minutes without a point and the Vikings went on a 26-0 run that spanned late in the first quarter and throughout the second to take a 22-point lead at the half. The Cheesemakers were 2 of 13 shooting in the first half and scored just four points.
Kind snapped the scoring drought knocking down a 3-pointer with 6:32 left in the third quarter. It sparked the Cheesemakers and was one of six 3-pointers they made in the third quarter.
Kind recalled the challenge Murphy issued to them at the half.
"Murphy told us we can either step up or back down in the second half," Kind said. "When you only score four points in the first half, it's really hard to keep your head up. We were able to shoot lights-out in the second half and they backed out of their zone. I think we stepped up and showed we can play with them."
The Cheesemakers made an adjustment in the second half by moving senior Alex Hendrickson into the high post. He had success making several passes to open shooters or players cutting to the basket.
"We knew they would come out and play that 1-3-1," Murphy said of the zone. "There wasn't anything too magical we did in the game. We had to get ball movement from everyone. We didn't give them second shots in the second half. That is what killed us in the first half."
"I just call it an attitude about life," Monroe coach Pat Murphy said. "If we were going to go down, we were going to go down fighting. It's a life lesson. We didn't fold it up. It says something about the guys being fearless and tough until the end."
The Cheesemakers (1-3, 1-1 Badger South) overcame a 22-point deficit to the Vikings (5-0) by hitting nine 3-pointers in the second half. Monroe senior Jake Hirsbrunner, who scored all 14 of his points in the second half, drilled a 3-pointer and senior Charlie Kind came up with a steal and layup to slice the Vikings' lead to 40-33 with 2:58 left. Hirsbrunner drilled a 3-pointer with 2:25 to go to cut the Vikings' lead to 40-36 with 2:25 to left.
Monroe senior Kylan Helmeid scored on a putback with 54.9 seconds to go and was fouled. He converted the conventional three-point play by knocking down the free throw to tie the game at 41. Stoughton's P.J. Rosowski missed a fade away jumper from the baseline at the buzzer.
The Cheesemakers came back to take a brief lead after Kevin Noriega's three-point play with 3:03 left in overtime gave the Cheesemakers a 44-42 lead.
Stoughton's 6-foot, 8-inch junior Nick McGlynn, who scored 17 points, had 12 rebounds and five blocks, made two free throws with 1:50 to go to give the Vikings a 47-44 lead. The Vikings, who made a state tournament run last year, made 10 of 12 free throws in the final 1:13 to seal the win. Stoughton senior Will Clark, who finished with 11 points, made 7 of 8 free throws down the stretch to ice it.
"I like our team. I don't like seeing our guys get pushed around," Murphy said. "The game started with us getting pushed around and it ended with us getting pushed around. We are not in it for moral victories either. In our league, if you don't play four quarters you are not going to beat anyone. I will take the responsibility as the coach for not having them ready to play."
Kind scored 14 of his team-high 16 points in the second half and Helmeid scored all 14 of his points in the second half.
Hirsbrunner said the biggest difference in the second half was the intensity the Cheesemakers played with.
"What got us going on offense was our defense," Hirsbrunner said. "We cranked it up on defense. This is a first for me. I have never been down by 22 points and then up by two points at one point. If we can crank up the intensity for four quarters and not just two quarters we can definitely be a deadly team."
Early on, the Vikings bottled up Monroe with a 1-3-1 zone. Kind and senior Noah Thompson each scored to give the Cheesemakers an early 4-0 lead. The Cheesemakers went more than 14 minutes without a point and the Vikings went on a 26-0 run that spanned late in the first quarter and throughout the second to take a 22-point lead at the half. The Cheesemakers were 2 of 13 shooting in the first half and scored just four points.
Kind snapped the scoring drought knocking down a 3-pointer with 6:32 left in the third quarter. It sparked the Cheesemakers and was one of six 3-pointers they made in the third quarter.
Kind recalled the challenge Murphy issued to them at the half.
"Murphy told us we can either step up or back down in the second half," Kind said. "When you only score four points in the first half, it's really hard to keep your head up. We were able to shoot lights-out in the second half and they backed out of their zone. I think we stepped up and showed we can play with them."
The Cheesemakers made an adjustment in the second half by moving senior Alex Hendrickson into the high post. He had success making several passes to open shooters or players cutting to the basket.
"We knew they would come out and play that 1-3-1," Murphy said of the zone. "There wasn't anything too magical we did in the game. We had to get ball movement from everyone. We didn't give them second shots in the second half. That is what killed us in the first half."
