EVANSVILLE — The Cheesemakers cruised to a season-opening win Nov. 30, taking a 19-point halftime lead and pulling away with a 78-49 nonconference victory.
“Opening day is always the best, coming out and playing in front of all the people,” Monroe sophomore Carson Leuzinger said. “Especially Thanksgiving when all the alumni are back in town — there’s nothing like it.”
Monroe’s coaches saw room for improvement, especially given that it was the first game of the season.
“I think we looked alright. I liked the balanced scoring,” Cheesemakers coach Brian Bassett said. “I think we passed the ball well. We probably didn’t run the offense as precise as I would like. In the first half we didn’t defend as well as we need to. We really have to concentrate on running guys out to the 3-point line. We’ve got to move forward from here, I guess.”
In the first half both teams shot the ball well, with Evansville hitting its first four 3s. Despite the hot shooting from the Blue Devils, Monroe was able to build on its lead minute by minute. The Cheesemakers turned to their young but talented playmakers to score. Cade Meyer, Max Golembiewski and Leuzinger each hit two 3-pointers in the opening half that helped the lead grow.
Meyer and Leuzinger each had 12 points in the first half, while Golembiewski finished with eight and JT Seagreaves had nine. In the game, Leuzinger scored 23, Meyer 18, Seagreaves 12 and Golembiewski 11. Tyler Matley had six, and nine of Monroe’s 15 players scored in the contest. And all 15 saw time on the court once the lead hit 30 midway through the second half.
“I looked at the minutes for some of our guys from last year, and there were some guys that maybe played in two games the whole season. That’s tough. We’ve got a team where they are coming in to work every day, too, and they don’t always get that chance to get in,” Bassett said. “Last year we didn’t have many big wins or big losses to get some of those guys in. So this year, to have it right away is rewarding to these guys.”
The Cheesemakers hit 21 2-pointers and 11 treys as a collective unit while finishing 9 of 12 from the line. The Blue Devils hit eight 3s, 10 2s and were 5 of 9 from the charity stripe.
Evansville’s Seth Maag had 10 points in the first half but was shut out in the second half. Aaron Anderson was scoreless in the opening frame but also finished with 10 points. Blue Devil star Sully Geske was unavailable to play.
“They were missing their best player, so we were able to get away with some things that with future opponents we won’t be able to get away with,” Bassett said.
Monroe’s next game is at home against Waunakee in a Badger Conference crossover Thursday, Dec. 5, with the Badger South opener against defending league champion Monona Grove slated for Saturday, Dec. 7.
“Practice has been going real well, and we’re playing well right now, and we want to keep it going,” Meyer said. “We know that we can put up points right now, but defense is what we need to work on. If we can hold teams to 30 or 40 points, then we’re going to be in good shape — especially when we’re playing really good teams.”
