MONROE — For nearly a decade, Carson Leuzinger and JT Seagreaves have shared the basketball court together. From youth basketball to AAU tournaments and varsity basketball, the two seniors have played in hundreds of — if not 1,000 — games together.

“It’s like second nature almost — I know where he’s going to be and the shots he’s looking for,” Seagreaves said of Leuzinger. “Just all the time playing together helps the chemistry.”

In fact, the number 1,000 has some special meanings between the two. Combined they’ve played in the vacinity of 1,000 games together, traveled thousands of miles across the country to play in AAU tournaments, and last month both eclipsed the career milestone mark of 1,000 points within days of each other.

“It’s been awesome growing up and reaching milestones together — like when we reached 1,000-points,” Leuzinger said, a feat both eclipsed in January. 

Senior Night at Monroe High School is scheduled for Feb. 12 against Oregon and marks one of the final games the pair will play together. 

“I’m just trying to soak up everything that I can and take it as it comes one game at a time. I know this is my last season playing basketball, so I just want to enjoy it,” Seagreaves said.

A top tandem 

The importance of the two on this year’s Cheesemakers’ squad has been immeasurable. Both are averaging more than 20 points per game and have led the Cheesemakers to a stellar 17-2 overall record, a 10-0 mark in the Badger West, and a No. 8 ranking in Division 2 by the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association. In multiple games this season, the pair have stifled off a hungry opponent or willed their squad from a close deficit to a victory when needed.

“We’ve got two really experienced seniors in me and JT. When it comes to crunch time, we’re really comfortable in this position — we’ve been here hundreds of times and we know how to finish it off,” Leuzinger said.

Leuzinger has hit multiple 3-point game winners this season on his home court, and he’s in line to finish Top 10 in school history in free throw percentage.

Both Leuzinger and Seagreaves crossed the 1,000-point milestone for the careers just days apart and will likely finish ranked sixth and seventh in school history in career scoring. They also have a shot at reaching the Top 6 in single-season scoring.

“They’ve got to be close to 1,000 games together — between AAU, middle school, summer league and being on varsity all the way up,” Monroe coach Brian Bassett said. 

Bassett called Leuzinger the hardest worker he’s ever been around — let alone coached — and combined with JT’s improvements as a team leader, each day in the gym has added vigor and excitement.

“Every day in practice they bring it,” Bassett said. “Carson has always busted his tail every day in practice. I think JT is starting to see the finish line. He wasn’t always the most motivated practice player, but this year’s he’s done a really good job of setting an example for the younger guys.”

A new shooting rig was acquired for Monroe Basketball for this season, which counts attempts and baskets, and Leuzinger has taken full advantage of it — entering the gym in the early morning hours before the sun comes up and getting off 500-plus shot attempts, all while hitting well more than half.

“Carson and I have a really good relationship. He comes in every morning and gets his shots up, so we get to talk a lot. He’s a great kid; fun to be around,” Bassett said.

On the court, Leuzinger, a 6-0 guard, is a threat anywhere he’s positioned. He can penetrate on a drive, pull up for a 3 on a dime, leave an opponent falling to the ground with a crossover or hit a turn-around jumper from midrange. On Feb. 8 against Lodi, he scored 22 points in the first half and finished the night with a career-high 31.

Surprisingly, Leuzinger’s recruitment in the college ranks has been slow, though it’s picked up in recent weeks. UW-Stout and UW-Eau Claire are among the schools that have scouted him in-person over past few games, but Leuzinger said he’s not going to let himself get distracted and instead keep his focus on this season. After that, he’ll look into his options.

Bassett, meanwhile, is miffed that it has taken college coaches, especially at the D-III level, so long to notice the shifty guard.

“I just don’t understand what college coaches are looking for. He’s the hardest worker I’ve ever been around; he can score on anybody; he runs the team; he has a great IQ,” Bassett said. “Colleges are starting to call, so hopefully once one team offers, everyone starts to offer.”

Seagreaves, a dominating 6-6 forward that was dunking on opponents in middle school, is already the school’s all-time leading rebounder. He had been aiming for a shot to play basketball in college, but the Wisconsin Badgers offered him a scholarship for football last summer — something he said he simply couldn’t pass up.

Bassett knew he had something special in the pair when he took over the program from Hall of Fame coach Pat Murphy in 2016 — even though Seagreaves and Leuzinger were still in middle school at the time.

“They were in sixth and seventh grade and bailing us out playing summer varsity basketball games because we needed guys. And not only bailing us out, but performing and scoring more than the guys that were on varsity. JT was in a seventh-grade game and dunking it, and then you go to an eighth-grade game and he’s dunking it off of two feet with two hands and in every different way, when we have guys that couldn’t even dunk on the varsity team — or get the rim for that matter. It was exciting,” Bassett said. “We knew they were coming. Murph knew they were coming and gave me a gift when he retired so I could have those two.”

It was in middle school that the two hoopsters really began to find their stride. In sixth grade they made the All-Tournament Team at the Wisconsin State Invitational Championship Tournament. In AAU, the pair played together in offseason tournaments around the country. In 2018 they won the AAU Nationals tournament in Orlando.

They’ve played in front of premier college coaches, like Wisconsin’s Greg Gard and Virginia’s Tony Bennett, as well as all-world players like Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal. 

“We’ve been all over and have seen all kinds of teams, play styles and different players. It’s a lot of experience in these different situations, and so we feel more comfortable with the game,” Seagreaves said. “In a lot of those bigger tournaments I was always going against bigger guys, and you can’t really find that too much around here. I feel like it’s definitely helped me grow to be a better player.”

With just a handful of guaranteed games remaining together, the pair wants nothing more than to ride it out as long as possible — which means returning the program to the state tournament for the first time since 2009.

“Now we’re just trying to finish off the season — win conference and go from there. We have goals that go as far as winning state,” Leuzinger said.

Growing up on varsity

Leuzinger, especially, has taken each loss and “off” game to heart. As a freshman he showed opposing teams and spectators glimmers of what he could become — only to have arguably the worst game of his career in a playoff loss at Mount Horeb, when he went scoreless and was visibly rattled by a series of turnovers.

In his sophomore season he averaged 15.2 points per game but was held to just seven as DeForest rolled Monroe in the second half of the regional championship.

Last season as a junior, Monroe hosted Lake Mills in the sectional final with a spot at the state tournament on the line. Leuzinger was held scoreless in the first half, but nailed four field goals in the second half to help his team take a late lead. Usually lights out from the charity stripe, Leuzinger missed the front end of bonus free throws in the final 30 seconds that could have altered the game and school history. Instead, he missed, and Lake Mills grabbed the rebound and moments later hit a layup with five seconds to go. When Leuzinger’s desperation 3-point heave at the buzzer clanked off the iron no good, he immediately sunk to his knees in anguish.

“Every year there is something that I use as motivation. Mount Horeb, that game gave me nightmares, but that motivated me as a sophomore. As a junior, missing that game winner, that was just motivation all summer,” Leuzinger said. “To be here, sitting at 17-2, is awesome.”

Bassett was unsure where Leuzinger may get the competition in day-to-day practice to continue to improve his game and keep him challenged. As a freshman, Leuzinger battled senior Nick Schumacher each day. During his sophomore and junior seasons, Max Golembiewski and Tyler Matley took center stage.

“Every year it he has had someone in his ear taking smack. This year, he didn’t really have it, but now I’m starting to see that magic because Keatin Sweeney is getting into him every day in practice. It’s really starting to elevate Carson’s playing,” Bassett said.

Seagreaves came up during a golden age of big men for the Cheesemakers. As a freshman he battled 6-6 all-conference senior Kade King (the team’s leading scorer) and 6-8 sophomore Cade Meyer. For the next two seasons, Seagreaves and Meyer, now a starter at UW-Green Bay as a freshman, went toe-to-toe in practice while giving opponents headaches during games.

“For JT, it’s been hard. It’s hard to have guys match up with him. This year it’s his brother (James),” Bassett said. “We saw last year in the playoffs — once we moved him up — that the guy that motivates JT to work his butt off is James. He’ll work harder on James than anybody. Every single day they pound each other in practice.”

JT took a huge leap on the court as a junior. He averaged 7.2 points per game as a freshman and 11.8 as a sophomore. However, late in tight games he scuffled from time to time and headed to the bench more than he or his coaches would have liked. During his junior season, that all changed, and his risen level of confidence made him a menace on the court — which then translated to football in the spring, as well as track and field. That’s when the Badgers offered him a scholarship.

As a senior he again dominated in football, and came out of the gates in basketball as a man on a mission, averaging a double-double with 20.1 ppg and 10.9 rpg. This year he’s spent time bringing the ball up the court — a thought unthinkable two years ago, according to Bassett. Adding to his skillset, JT is also a 40% career 3-point shooter, meaning his range on the court is unique and difficult for opposing teams to defend.

The Cheesemakers have just four losses over the last two seasons, and Leuzinger said part of that is his confidence in knowing he’s played equal to higher competition game-in and game-out in the AAU circuit, which has prepared him for moments of grit.

“When you play AAU you’re traveling all over the country and playing some of the top players, top teams in the nation. It’s just a different pace; a different talent. When you come here (high school varsity in Wisconsin), it really slows down when you compare it, which makes life easier,” Leuzinger said.

The home stretch

Monroe will also honor other two seniors against Oregon, Aaron Roidt and Heath Huschitt. Roidt has stepped into a starting role and has made a name for himself defensively. Huschitt, a guard, has missed the entire season with an injury and has been missed in the front court — as either a starter or as a depth piece. He saw plenty of minutes on the court off the bench as a junior last season. A slew of junior guards — George Brukwicki, Tucker Markham, Charlie Wiegel and Keatin Sweeney — have stepped up to fill the void while also getting high-pressure minutes each game.

“I feel like we all seem good in clutch time this season — me, Carson, and Aaron with senior leadership. We know what we’re doing. We know what we want to accomplish. Even if we are down at the end, I really like our chances,” JT said.

After the Oregon game, the Cheesemakers have just two away games to close out the regular season — at Mount Horeb Feb. 15 and at Edgewood Feb. 18 — plus a home game for the Badger Conference championship Feb. 24. Monroe has already clinched a share of the Badger West title, and needs to win just one of its final four games to take the conference outright. 

This is the first Badger Conference title season for Monroe in 11 years. Last season, the Cheesemakers lost just one game in the regular season, but due to COVID-19, the Badger Conference didn’t hold an official league season, meaning there was no official champion.

Monroe’s only two losses this season were to DeForest — at DeForest both times — by a total of 11 points. Though JT said that while the team has been playing hard, they have been up and down in recent weeks.

“We’ve still been pulling out wins. We’re not playing as well as we should, and so I think we’ll pick it up to finish off the season,” he said.

If the Cheesemakers are, as JT says, “not playing as well” as they should be, perhaps upcoming opponents (including in the postseason) better be worried — especially if the Cheesemakers begin to click. 

“I feel pretty good with us getting ready for playoffs,” JT said.