MONROE — The Cheesemakers pulled off a pair of tough wins on back-to-back night this week. On Jan. 27, Monroe defeated Evansville 46-42, and the next night the Cheesemakers were on the road at Darlington, where they used a strong second half to pull away 71-52.

Against Evansville, the Blue Devils kept it close all game. Monroe went into halftime leading 16-12, and the two teams each scored 27 points in the second half.

JT Meyer had 13 points while JJ Meyer tallied 10 to lead the Cheesemakers, which shot just 15% (2-for-13) from three-point range, but saw a lot of success inside — making 14 of 24 shots in the paint. Monroe also held the advantage at the free throw line, finishing 12-for-17, while the Blue Devils hit just one of two attempts.

The next night in a nonconference tilt, Monroe went into halftime leading Darlington by just a point at 23-22. The second half was a different story, however, as the Cheesemakers out-paced the Redbirds 48-30 over the final 18 minutes.

Miles Versnik stood out for Monroe, finishing the night with a game-high 18 points. Marcus Ott tallied 13, JT Meyer 12, JJ Meyer 11 and Mekhi Brown nine. Broker Buschor paced Darlington with 12 points — all of which came on three-point shots. Taggart Gille scored 11 for the Redbirds, which also got eight from Cagyn Paisley and seven each from Zeke Zuberbuhler and Ryder Fitzsimons.

Brodhead 73, St. Ambrose 64

BRODHEAD — The Cardinals held on despite the visiting St. Ambrose Academy having four players register 14 points or more in their game Jan. 28.

Brodhead’s Cullen Walker led all shooters with 26 points on 10 of 19 from the field. He added right rebounds and five assists. Teammate Brody Riese scored 15 points, Sam Searls had 14, and Gabe Bockhop and Josh Blum each added nine.

Nathan Hartung (19), Michael Schmiesing (15), Anthony Lyons (15) and Jacob Sturm (14) scored 63 of St. Ambrose’s points.

Shullsburg 59, Albany 47

ALBANY — To quote Sportscenter anchors from the 1990s, “You can’t stop him, you can only hope to contain him.” That was the case on Jan. 27 for the Comets, which struggled to hold Grady Poppy from being a one-man wrecking crew in the Six Rivers crossover tilt. Poppy finished the night just one dish away from a heralded triple-double. On the night, he tallied 22 points, 16 rebounds, nine assists, six blocks and four steals.

Shullsburg took a 27-16 lead into halftime and defensively held Albany from gaining enough momentum to turn the tide.

Ty Durtschi led the Comets with 15 points and seven boards, while Kaden Zurfluh added 12 points and six assists. 

Barneveld 87, Juda 47

BARNEVELD — The Panthers fell behind 43-24 in the first half and the Eagles didn’t let up after the intermission in their Six Rivers East tilt on Jan. 27.

Barneveld shot 60% from the field and dominated the paint. Juda connected on just 30.9% of its field goals attempts. The Eagles out-scored the Panthers 25-0 in transition points and 54-20 on points in the paint.

Jayden Brown scored 18 points to lead Juda. Easton Hess added 14 and Blake Adkins had nine. Three Eagles scored in double figures and were led by Terek Marx.

Argyle 73, Monticello 72

MONTICELLO — The Ponies nearly pulled off a major upset on Jan. 27. Monticello went shot-for-shot with the Orioles in both halves. The game was tied 36-36 at halftime, and Argyle held the 37-36 advantage in the second half.

Ike Waage had 18 points, 17 rebounds and eight assists to lead the Orioles. Deacon Kuebli scored 16, Mason McNett 15 and Casper Moen added nine points for Argyle.

Hunter Grossen paced the Ponies with 25 points. Alex Roe finished the night with 17, Tristan Pitman had 13 and Mason McCutchin added nine.

Pecatonica 81, Black Hawk 25

SOUTH WAYNE — The Warriors struggled in both halves of a blowout loss to the Vikings on Jan. 27. Black Hawk scored 17 points in the first half and just eight in the second half. Pecatonica, meanwhile, had 43 and 38 in each half, respectively.

The Vikings shot 59.6% from the field, including a 7-for-15 mark (46.7%) from three-point range. 

Griffin Noll finished with 16 points to lead Pec. Charles Anderson ended the night with 15, Cohlman Schlimgen had 12 and Martin Anderson added 10.

Brycen Wilson was the only efficient offensive piece for the Warriors, scoring 11 points on 4 of 9 shooting, including hitting 3 of 6 three-pointers.

Fennimore 48, Belleville 41

BELLEVILLE — The Wildcats fell behind by 10 points at halftime and were unable to cap off the comeback in a nonconference game Jan. 28. 

Adam Cann led Belleville with 13 points and Jackson Scholey added eight. Jude Kinney’s 14 points paced Fennimore.