MONROE — Foul trouble and boxing out for rebounds were the two biggest culprits the Cheesemakers faced in a 72-63 loss to Waunakee Dec. 5.

“We’ve got things to clean up,” Monroe coach Brian Bassett said. “We’ve got to live and learn. That team is very physical, and we probably won’t play a team that physical for a while. They made it tough for us to run what we wanted to run.”

Monroe fell into a heap of foul trouble in the first half, with starters Cade Meyer and Max Golembiewski forced to the bench with two fouls each. A nearly 10-point lead for the Cheesemakers quickly eroded as the Warriors found their rhythm on the hardwood.

“We knew coming into the game that those refs were going to be tight, and they just called it towards Waunakee’s way — or at least that’s what it felt like,” Monroe junior Cade Meyer said.

Trailing 17-14, Waunakee went on a 13-2 run to go up 26-19 with just over four minutes to play in the first half, thanks in part to three 3-pointers from Caden Hough. By halftime, Waunakee led 34-24.

“(Assistant coach) Josh Trame was doing the shot chart for us, and at one point in time they had 24 shot attempts and we had 8. That was with like 10 minutes to go in the first half,” Bassett said. “That just goes to show how they physically buried us. I’ve never seen a team play that physical. I was a little disappointed in how we reacted — they just got done playing football and I was hoping to get a few more calls on those pushes in the back, but obviously I’m biased.”

The game got even more intense in the second half, which was marred by three technical fouls and a slew of other whistles, with the two teams combining to shoot 39 free throws over the final 18 minutes. The Warriors hit 17 of 25 free throw attempts in the second half, while Monroe was 8 of 14.

“I thought we reacted better in the second half. We got a little bit lower and cleaned up a little bit better — we didn’t give up as many offensive rebounds, and I think a part of that is they just didn’t miss,” Bassett said. “You can’t give a team confidence. You are up 10-2 and can’t make a shot, like I said, they had 24 attempts, but sooner or later they are going to start making them.”

Monroe was called for a technical when junior star Cade Meyer threw down a two-handed slam on a fast break. Bassett said he was told the fall was called was because Meyer “yelled.”

Waunakee’s Jaxson Zibell hit both free throws, but the sequence lit a fire under the Cheesemakers, who kept grinding their way back into the contest.

“It was a spark that we needed. I feel like after that dunk we scored on six consecutive possessions,” Meyer said.

Waunakee watched its lead slowly erode. Monroe got back to within two points at 52-50 with just under 10 minutes left, but that came at a cost. Big men JT Seagreaves and Aaron Ziolkowski each picked up their fourth fouls within minutes of each other, and Meyer added a fourth foul not long after.

Warrior sophomore Andrew Keller went on his own 3-point binge, which helped stretch the lead out again. 

“Waunakee always brings it. They played really good defense just about the entire time, and they got just about every single one of us in foul trouble, which didn’t help us,” Golembiewski said.

Monroe’s next best chance to get back to into it came with 4:59 left when Waunakee’s Oleg Votjisek was called for his fifth foul in the post and was called for a technical foul. The fouls were the ninth and 10th team fouls against the Warriors in the half. But per officiating rules, Monroe was only given two technical foul free throws and the ball, with bonus free throws wiped away. Carson Leuzinger hit both throws, but the Cheesemakers had a turnover on the inbounds play while trailing 54-52.

“It just seemed like every time we really had a chance to cut into the lead, we’d make a mental mistake or we didn’t catch the ball. They did a great job at pushing our wings out. It’s hard to simulate that, so we’ll have to practice harder,” Bassett said. “We’ve got to get the ball inside earlier and more often.”

Waunakee went on another short scoring binge to go back up by 7, but Meyer hit a free throw and a 3 to trim it to 64-61 with 1:35 remaining. It was the closest Monroe would get.

“Defense and fouls,” Meyer said of Monroe’s troubles. “We had guys fouling out. It’s still early in the season, but we have a lot of work to do to get those situations figured out. We just have to take what we did good and what we did bad and work on it in practice so we can get that first big conference win.”

Meyer led all scorers in the game with 24 points, which included three 3s. Leuzinger had 15 points, 11 of which coming in the second half. Seagreaves scored 13 and Tyler Matley had seven for Monroe (1-1). The Cheesemakers were just 13 of 22 in the game from the free throw line.

Waunakee was led in scoring by Keller’s 19. Zibell had 18 and Hough had 17. The Warriors hit nine 3s compared to Monroe’s six. Waunakee finished a hearty 25 of 36 from the charity stripe.

“Waunakee is pretty good at doing the right thing and putting the ball into the hoop when they need to. They are a good program, and no matter how young they are, they are going to bring it to you,” Golembiewski said.

Dec. 7, Monroe 59, Monona Grove 52

MONROE — The Cheesemakers (2-1) opened the conference slate with a solid win over defending conference champion Monona Grove (0-2).

The Cheesemakers led 23-18 at halftime and held steady in the second half, especially from the free throw line. 

Cade Meyer scored 24 to lead the way for Monroe, with Carson Leuzinger finishing with 15 and Max Golembiewski 14. Lance Nelson led MG with 15 points.

The Cheesemakers have a full conference slate before the holiday break, with away games at Stoughton (Dec. 13) and Fort Atkinson (Dec. 20) with a home game against Oregon (Dec. 17) sandwiched in between.