MONROE — Despite a 77-56 Viking victory in January, Monroe rebounded for a 79-61 win on Tuesday, Feb. 14, largely due to its defense.

“It feels great. Coming into this game, they probably thought that they had the upper hand — most people probably did,” senior George Brukwicki said. “We knew we just had to do what we do best, and we got it done.”

In the previous meeting, Mount Horeb hit nine 3-pointers, led by Josh Manchester with five. This time, the Vikings fed Austin Leibfried in the post for 12 points.

“They definitely thought that was the mismatch this time,” Monroe head coach Brian Bassett said. “They made it a point of emphasis to get it to him and pound it. But that’s okay. We are all about that. They can pound it into him, which means they aren’t making threes. Our problem all season has been we will make a two, but they will make a three. Tonight, we finally turned the tables on somebody.”

Mount Horeb started off hot, though, hitting two of its five 3-pointers in the first three minutes. Monroe kept pace, receiving threes from Tucker Markham, Keatin Sweeney and Brukwicki. With a reverse layup from James Seagreaves, the Cheesemakers took an 11-8 lead.

The Vikings regained the lead on a shot from Leibfried, but Mount Horeb ran into foul trouble. Liebfried picked up his second foul, as did Manchester moments later. With Griffin Hannah’s first foul, Ryan Mathiason went to the line for bonus with nine minutes left in the half. 

Mathiason made both of his free throws for a 20-16 advantage. The two teams tied and exchanged the lead twice before five unanswered points gave the Cheesemakers a 33-28 edge at halftime. Seagreaves completed a 3-point play at the free-throw line, and Monroe broke the press, giving Sweeney an easy basket.

While the Cheesemakers started the first half hot, they came out ice cold in the second. Mount Horeb scored six straight points to take the lead. After a pair of free throws from Markham, the Vikings extended their lead to 38-35 with back-to-back buckets from Leibfried and Nick Vorwald. 

Brandon Bassett sparked the Cheesemakers’ comeback, tying the game twice with a pair of threes. Brukwicki then found his stroke, knocking down back-to-back 3-pointers.

“The last two games he’s been shooting the ball really well again,” Brian Bassett said of Brukwicki. “In practice he’s dialed in, and that’s the biggest thing for him. He went through a slump last year, and this year being a senior, he’s learned how to fight through that. He just sticks with what he does and knows it will work.”

Mount Horeb looked to kill the momentum with a 3-pointer on a side-out play, but Leibfried picked up his fourth foul in the process, erasing the shot.

“Once he [Leibfried] was in foul trouble, it caught him off guard. That helped stop him from scoring,” Mathiason said. “When you don’t have to be guarding their best post player, you can help a little bit more. Defensively, it allows everybody to work better as a team and not play individual defense.”

With Leibfried on the bench, Monroe extended its lead to 12 with a defensive rebound from Brukwicki. He then pushed the ball up the court to Wiegel for two points.

“One of our goals is to not let them get offensive rebounds,” Mathiason said. “We started to get more rebounds and that lead to transition, which are some of the easiest points you are going to get.”

Although Rocco Richie scored on back-to-back possessions, the Vikings couldn’t move their feet. Monroe reached bonus with five minutes left and capitalized on its opportunities at the line.

“One of our goals each game that Gratz has for us is to shoot a certain number of free throws — it’s usually in the 20 range,” Brukwicki said. “If we do that, even if we just shoot them, we are pretty successful. It means we got to the paint and got a lot of fouls.”

Down the stretch, Monroe went 7-for-12 at the charity stripe, including a game-ending free throw from Keegan Dahmen.

Five Cheesemakers scored in double figures, led by Markham with 20 points. Brukwicki, who sank four 3-pointers, tallied 13 points. Mathiason recorded 12 points and was perfect from the field. Seagreaves and Sweeney put up 11 points each. 

In addition to his 11 points, Sweeney held Manchester to just two points. In January, Manchester scored 23 points against Monroe.

“Keatin Sweeney held their best player, who’s put up 40 in a game this year, to two points,” Brian Bassett said. “He’s only a freshman but probably going to be Player of the Year. He’s averaging 16.9 points per game. Manchester even came up to him [Sweeney] and said, ‘You’re the best defensive player I’ve played all year.’”