MONROE — With less than a month to go in the regular season, the Cheesemakers are finally starting to hit their stride. Coach Brian Bassett’s team has struggled with Jekyll and Hyde performances all season — many times even from one half to the next. But a 69-46 win over Fort Atkinson Jan. 24 was arguably the best game of the season for Monroe, which included a 12-point win over Monona Grove Dec. 11.

“We have not had two good halves in a row for a long, long time,” Monroe coach Brian Bassett said. “Either that or we have a four-minute lapse where it’s a really close game and all of a sudden, we’re down 10, or if we’re up 20, then all of a sudden, it’s a five-point game. We haven’t had this complete game. It was nice to see for once.”

While the early scoring was slow, the Cheesemakers never trailed. Fort Atkinson didn’t get on the board until nearly five minutes had passes on the game clock. By then Monroe was figuring out its offense — or rather, the Cheesemakers began to feed Cade Meyer left, right and center.

“I was really impressed that we were feeding the fire. We used to have to try and force these kids to find the fire and feed the fire. They did it on their own tonight,” Monroe head coach Brian Bassett said.

Meyer, a 6-7 sophomore, scored 16 of his game-high 20 points in the first half. Sometimes he drove the baseline, other times he hit a 3-point jumper or scored in transition.

“Cade Meyer was knocking down crazy shots. We were just trying to get him looks in the first half and we rode through him — he was the guy,” said Monroe’s other big man, senior Kade King.

King dominated the boards all game long — finishing with 11 overall and six in the first half. It was in the second half that King decided to become the focal point of the offense, as he went on to score 16 of his 18 points to complete the double-double in front of scouts and coaches from four state schools seeking his talents for next year.

“He finally started taking his shots in that second half. He’s the one kid that you have to beg to shoot the ball. He’s shooting 75 percent from the field and we have to beg him to shoot the ball, which is crazy,” Bassett said.

One thing was clear, however. Despite the strong performances of Meyer and King, the Cheesemakers distributed the ball at will against the Blackhawks.

“I think they are starting to figure it out,” Bassett said. “We always pass the ball — we’re an unselfish team. I think our defense is what’s really improved over the last three weeks. I think they are buying into our system, and they are buying in that we can do it together better than we can do it as one.”

Monroe finished with 20 assists in the game — including five from senior guard Nick Schumacher and four from freshman guard Carson Leuzinger. While the two combined for just one point in the game, their impact on Monroe’s offensive prowess was unmistakable against Fort Atkinson. 

Earlier in January Leuzinger supplanted Schumacher in the starting lineup, but Bassett said that because the two are great friends there are no hard feelings. What opponents see is a new dynamic on the court. 

“The thing Carson has done since we put him in the lineup these last four games is, he pressures the other team’s ball-handler All. Day. All. Night. All. Game. He’s dogging them everywhere they go. He brings a ball pressure that nobody else on our team can do. And then he’s an unbelievably talented guard,” Bassett said.

While Leuzinger brings heavy defensive pressure and shows promise as a future sparkplug, Schumacher already possesses the experience as the team’s catalyst.

“Even when he’s not scoring, he’s finding people — and tonight I thought he was electric as far as seeing the court and finding guys that were open and making plays,” Bassett said of Schumacher. “We kept him in there a little bit longer, and he did a great job feeding everybody all night and he did a great job at the end with the reserves finding everybody and giving the reserves an opportunity to score. He was so unselfish tonight, so hat’s off to him.”

Monroe led 26-12 at halftime, capped by a dunk from freshman JT Seagreaves after taking a steal coast to coast. Throughout much of the season, halftime was pivotal for Monroe, as a good first half tended to be negated by a poor showing in the second half, or vise versa. In their second go-round against Fort, the Cheesemakers kept the pedal to the metal.

“We know that they could win a half, but that’s not what we wanted to happen. We know that we are the better team overall. It wasn’t going to come down to halves — both halves we’re just going to come out and beat them,” King said.

Monroe’s lead reached as much as 30 at 62-32 with 5:56 left in the game and the varsity reserve lineup entering the game. Schumacher stayed on for a few minutes to get players comfortable and find scoring opportunities. After Schumacher went to the bench, it was senior Hunter Huschitt who stepped up to become the floor general. The lanky senior finished his six minutes of action with two points, four rebounds, an assist and a steal in the final seconds. 

“The first two minutes they were in they were a little spastic and going all over the place. But Huschitt kind of grabbed the group and took control of the group. He did a great job of breaking the press and looking all over the place. He’s a great kid and knows exactly what to do in the game and he’s getting better and better all the time,” Bassett said. “It was nice to see all those guys get a chance. Once they found their rhythm, they were good.”

Thirteen Monroe players scored in the game, including juniors Cael Losenegger and Logan Leuzinger for their first varsity points. 

The game came with just one day of practice during the week thanks to a snow storm that forced school to close early Jan. 22 and to stay closed the 23rd. 

“I feel like having a couple of days off we got our legs underneath of us. Once we got going, they couldn’t stop us,” Meyer said. But despite not having as much practice, confidence is building in the locker room, according to Meyer. “I feel like we’ve made a big step from the start of the season. I feel like we’ve got guys that are starting to get hot and we know how to hit them. No one’s selfish, and that’s just great, because we can move the ball and find a great look.”

The team will likely have to do the same thing this week. Another snowstorm cancelled school on Monday and sub-antarctic cold temperatures threaten much of the week for practices and games (Oregon scheduled for Jan. 29).

“It’s a work in progress. We’re just trying to get better every single day,” King said. “We started off pretty inconsistent, but we’re going to try to string some games together, string some wins together. Moving forward, that’s what a great team has to do, is string together wins.”