OREGON — Ten minutes. Each game this season the Monroe boys basketball team has had a stretch of about 10 minutes where everything goes poorly, and nearly half of the time it has proved fatal, which is part of the reason the Cheesemakers are 9-8 on the year.

In the sixth game of the season, on Dec. 7, Monroe led Oregon by 20 midway through the first half, only to see Oregon find a new gear and eventually win by 10. The frustrating loss was one of many that have come from second half collapses, similar to a Feb. 1 overtime defeat at the hands of Monona Grove.

But in a rematch against Oregon Feb. 4, the Jekyll and Hyde Cheesemakers rewrote the script and went on to win 67-50.

“We wanted to come in here and blow them out of the water. This is for a shot at a conference title still,” Monroe senior Nick Schumacher said. “I think at this point during the season we’re playing with a better attitude. We’re meaner. We’re not going to let people walk on us anymore.”

The Cheesemakers fell behind early against the Panthers, struggling for the first 10 minutes of the game. Oregon led 12-2 just over five minutes into the game, and made it 20-8 after 10 minutes in.

Monroe’s offense was struggling during the stretch, as the Cheesemakers started the game 2-for-9 from the field and had five turnovers during those first 10 minutes. But instead of raising his voice and demanding better play, Monroe head coach Brian Bassett took another approach.

“I didn’t really say anything,” Bassett said. “I said to play with poise, play with energy — because our energy was terrible. I said to figure it out and go out there and play.”

The Cheesemakers’ reaction was instant. Seniors Michael Lange and King buried a pair of 3s that cut the deficit to six. Monroe slowly continued to cut into the lead, with much of the spark coming off the hands of Lange, who had eight of his 15 points in the opening half.

“Hats off to Max Lange. He really played with some fire,” Bassett said. “When we were down, he was the one that brought us back. He was the one getting deflections and getting after it. He really attacked the rim and was relentless.”

In the waning seconds of the half, King scored off of a rebound to bring Monroe back to within just a point at 31-30.

“We started playing loosely. We weren’t stuck in our offense, we were running around doing what coach told us to do and running our game plan better,” Schumacher said.

Oregon looked ready to compete in the second half, hitting a trio of 3-pointers to maintain a lead, but then the Cheesemakers defense shifted into a higher gear. Ethan Victorson buried a 3 with 14:22 left that made it 41-37 Oregon, the Cheesemakers rattled off a 20-0 run over the next seven minutes on 8-of-10 shooting.

The highlight of the run was a steal and a one-handed tomahawk slam dunk by sophomore Cade Meyer, but the story of the streak was etched in stone by the defensive prowess and distribution of the ball on offense.

“This is an unselfish team that shares the ball really well,” Bassett said. “And I can’t say enough about playing with some swag and playing with some confidence — it goes a long way.”

Meyer and Lange led Monroe with 15 points each, while King had 12 and Schumacher nine. King and Meyer each had seven rebounds, while Schumacher had four boards and four assists. Freshman guard Carson Leuzinger hit a 3-pointer and finished with a rebound, three assists and three steals.

“The impressive thing was our physicality inside tonight,” Bassett said. “And it wasn’t just Kade King — everybody played physical tonight. Cade Meyer really brought the hammer.”

Monroe was 13 of 19 from the field in the second half, including 13 of 17 prior to both teams subbing in the reserves in the final two minutes. The Cheesemakers also forced Oregon into nine turnovers in the second half — seven more than the Panthers committed in the first half. Oregon was 5-for-17 from the field in the second half and led in scoring by Victorson and Adam Yates, who each had 11.

The win did more than boost the confidence of the Cheesemakers. It evened Monroe and Oregon in the conference race at 7-3, while Stoughton and Monona Grove are a half-game up in the standings at 7-2.

“We have to keep our consistency and limit turnovers and play it one game at a time,” Lange said.