MONROE — When the playoffs arrive, teams tend to turn to their seniors to make big plays in big moments. Monroe followed that script almost to a “T.”

“Seniors are what will lead you to the promised land in March,” Monroe coach Brian Basett said after Monroe’s 61-56 win over Sauk Prairie in the first round of the WIAA Division 2 boys basketball playoffs Feb. 26. “I thought that our seniors did an unbelievable job stepping up tonight.”

Monroe seniors Nick Schumacher and Kade King took over in the waning minutes. Schumacher sparkled at both ends of the court, and King announced his presence with authority on defense. The team also hit 10 of 11 free throws in the second half, including 5 of 6 in the final minute.

“It wasn’t just the scoring of Kade King — it was the blocks, the rebounds, the screens, the passing. He did it all,” Bassett said.

With Sauk leading 51-50 with 4:25 remaining, Schumacher once again had the look of a lion ready to feast. On Schumacher drove into the paint — and into four defenders — and rolled in a layup to give Monroe a 52-51 advantage with 4:14 left. 

“As a senior, all of us have been here before. We have to lead the way,” Schumacher said.

Two possessions later the Cheesemakers (13-10) failed tip-in after tip-in to get a bucket until Cade Meyer capitalized on the fifth try. Schumacher injured his ankle on the play and was forced out by the officials, only to check right back in again.

“We don’t want this season to end. We are treating all these games like it’s our last, because it is,” King said. “Nick had a couple of big steals and a couple of big free throws.”

Sauk didn’t give up and tied the game at 56 with 1:41 left when King was called for a goaltend on what would have been his third block of the half and fifth in the game. Instead of getting flustered, the 6-foot-6 big man took a beating in the offensive post and reached the foul line where he went 1-for-2 with 49.6 seconds left.

The Eagles (8-15) called a timeout with 43.7 seconds left, presumably to set up an offensive set that would drain the clock until a shot in the final seconds. 

Bu Schumacher wasn’t having it. The senior guard jumped the inbound pass for a steal across the timeline and was fouled with 40 seconds left on the clock. Cool and collected, Schumacher knocked down both freebies to put Monroe up three.

“I wasn’t going to let us lose. A first-round exit would suck,” Schumacher said. “It gave us a three-point lead — a certain amount to give us a little bit of comfort.”

Sauk’s Jack Henderson, a 6-7 senior who hit three 3s in the game, clanked on off the back iron in the final seconds, with Meyer grabbing the rebound for Monroe. He made both bonus free throws after getting fouled and on Sauk’s final shot, King got enough of the ball for his fifth block of the night.

“That was a tough, hard-fought game. And that’s what you know you’re going to get in March. Even though it’s not March, it’s pretty dang close,” Bassett said.

As action-packed as the ending was, the game started off fast. Sauk made 8 of its first 9 shots and led 18-11 less than six minutes into the game. While Monroe struggled with turnovers and missed their first two shots, Monroe went on an 8-for-9 streak of their own that brought the score to within a point. 

“We knew coming out that (Sauk) played about as well as they could in that first half and we just had to keep grinding it out. We knew that if we kept playing the way we know we could play, we would come out on top,” Bassett said.

Monroe briefly took a 20-18 lead with 5:15 left in the first half after Schumacher buried a 3, but went into the break down 31-27.

“We made adjustments at the half, mostly,” King said. “We had to close out on their shooters — they were knocking them down from the get-go. We had to get a high hand and make them beat us at the basket.” 

King finished the night with 16 points, nine rebounds, five assists, a steal and five blocks. Meyer had 18 points, four rebounds and two steals; Schumacher had 11 points, five boards and three assists and JT Seagreaves had 11 points, five rebounds, two assists and three steals. As a team, the Cheesemakers were 23 of 27 from the field, while Sauk was 23-for-49. Spencer Breunig led the eagles with 22 points, while Henderson had 13 and Trevor Spray 11.

“We just finally put another full game together. The first half wasn’t great, but we stuck with them,” Meyer said. 

The road didn’t get any easier in the regional semifinal. The Cheesemakers were scheduled to travel to Mount Horeb (19-3), ranked ninth in the state.

“The biggest thing is we’re going to have to defend the paint and we’re going to have to defend the 3-point arc, because they are the best 3-point shooting team around,” Bassett said. “Mount Horeb can flat out shoot and flat out get by you — and those are two things we’ve struggled with all year. If we can figure it out, we can beat them. Can we figure them out? That’s the big question.”