NEW GLARUS — In the final day of the second-annual New Glarus Holiday tournament, the Cheesemakers surpassed the Cardinals by 20 points to take third place, while Deerfield perservered in a back-and-forth championship game.
After falling to Deerfield 69-60 in the opening game of the tournament, Monroe knew it had some work to do in order to defeat Brodhead.
“We took today as a mental day,” assistant head coach Josh Trame said. “We watched some film and watched ourselves and evaluated what we could do better. For me — I’m defensive-minded—and we had to be better on defense. It was really sloppy yesterday with the basics. Those are the things we knew we had to be better at. We did a good job of it in the second half, closing out the game and responding.”
The Cheesemakers defense forced Cardinal turnovers, while providing opportunities for Monroe’s offense. James Seagreaves scored the first two points of the game at the free-throw line and scored again after grabbing the rebound from his own shot and putting it back in.
George Brukwicki then heavily guarded Brodhead’s point guard, forcing a five-second violation. On the next Cardinal possession, Brodhead was called for a carry. After a bucket from Keatin Sweeney, Jaxon Dooley got the Cardinals on the board with a 3-pointer. He then completed a three-point play at the free-throw line, as Seagreaves picked up his second foul.
“We were looking to get him in foul trouble, but it wasn’t our exact plan of attack,” Brodhead head coach Tommy Meier said. “We told the kids not to be afraid of him in the post. If you get a chance, shot fake and go at him. It helps when you can get rid of their best player here and there for a couple minutes.”
Monroe found a way to respond with Seagreaves on the bench, though, going on a 9-2 run. Sweeney scored again on a press-breaking assist from Brukwicki. The two combined for another three points as Brukwicki drove to the lane and kicked it back out to Sweeney on the perimeter. Seagreaves capped the run with two points and an assist from Brandon Bassett.
Brodhead got back within four points with a pair of free throws from Dooley and five points from Gavin Pinnow. Dooley looked to add on during a fast-break opportunity, but he missed the layup. Tucker Markham grabbed the rebound, going on his own fast break, and scored on the other end.
After a Brukwicki 3-pointer, Ryan Mathiason scored back-to-back points for Monroe, both of them after grabbing offensive rebounds.
“Ryan did a really nice job stepping up,” Trame said. “He knows what his expectations are and doesn’t try to do too much. He fills his role well, and that’s what we need is a lot of role players.”
To close out the half, Brodhead outscored Monroe 14-8. Brody Riese had four points, followed by a pair of free-throws from Dooley. Cullen Walker contributed eight points with two 3-pointers, including a basket from beyond the arc with just five seconds left in the half.
The Cardinal’s only blemish in the run was back-to-back threes from Charlie Wiegel and Brukwicki.
Seagreaves scored first in the second half to give Monroe a 10-point lead, but four straight points from Walker cut the deficit to just six.
With back-to-back fouls from Sam Searls, Brodhead ran into trouble. Brukwicki went to the line and made one free throw. On the ensuing Cardinal inbounds pass, Sweeney stole the ball, scored and was fouled in the process. He completed the three-point play at the free-throw line. To go up by 17, Brukwicki made his third three of the night.
Once again, Brodhead fought back, getting within 10 points. Walker was left wide open for an uncontested 3-pointer, followed by a basket from Pinnow. Riese scored on a reverse layup, and Walker added another two points.
Brukwicki and Seagreaves led the next Cheesemaker run, as Brukwicki made back-to-back threes and Seagreaves had two baskets in the post and one from an inbounds play.
A Markham foul sent Riese to the line, where he made both free-throws, but down by 19 points, Meier saw the writing on the wall and put in his substitutes. Bassett followed suit, as Monroe cruised to a 76-56 victory.
Brukwicki led Monroe with 22 points, 15 of which came from beyond the arc. He also snagged six rebounds. Wiegel, who finished with 11 points, had two threes, while Sweeney had one 3-pointer in his 10-point total.
“They shot lights out from three,” Meier said. “That’s not something we expected them to do. I knew they were decent outside shooters, but they shot it very well tonight.”
Seagreaves was the fourth player in double figures for Monroe with 18 points and a team-leading eight rebounds.
Brodhead also had four players in double figures, with Walker scoring a team-high 19 points. Dooley followed with 13. Pinnow totaled 11 points, while Riese scored 12 points with team best six rebounds.
Brodhead also had four players in double figures, with Walker scoring a team-high 19 points. Dooley followed with 13. Pinnow totaled 11 points, while Riese scored 12 points with team best six rebounds.
Headed into the game, Meier was worried about his team’s post presence, but Riese stepped up.
“I thought Brody played exceptionally well for us. He was out-sized and out-matched, but he played hard and was physical.”
Monroe went back to .500 (4-4) with the win, while the Cardinals dropped to 4-6 on the season. They are currently trying to shake a four-game losing streak.
“We are still trying to find our identity,” Meier said. “We were 4-2 at one point, and now we are 4-6. We are struggling right now and on a little skid. Defensively we have to get better and learn to rebound and box out. There are too many second-chance points and turnovers. If we can clean those things up, we will win more games.”
In the championship game, New Glarus and Deerfield exchanged leads six times and tied the game eight times with the Demons coming out on top 65-59.
Last season, the two teams met twice, with the Knights sweeping the Demons by scores of 72-56 and 72-54. As such, New Glarus knew that Cal Fisher, a Florida State University baseball commit, couldn’t beat them. Despite the scouting and face guarding, though, Fisher put up 20 points in the victory.
Deerfield started the game with two easy 3-pointers, which prompted am urgent timeout by New Glarus head coach Travis Sysko.
Ethan Friedrich came out of the timeout with a 3-pointer for an 8-6 lead, and Max Marty added on with a pair of free-throws. The Demons clawed back, though, to take an 11-10 lead with a 3-pointer from Martin Kimmel.
AC Strok regained the lead with a bucket, but halfway through the first the two teams were caught in a 12-12 tie thanks to a free throw from Fisher.
Friedrich maintained New Glarus’s lead with a basket, and Jack Leonard added on with a steal and bucket. With an offensive put-back by Ja’Kodey Strahm, the Knights had their largest lead of the half at six points.
Deerfield came back to tie the game at 25 with four free throws and 3-pointer from Landyn Christianson. In the remaining two minutes of the half, Ben Wetzel chipped in two more free throws with a reverse layup from Christianson.
New Glarus was able to keep the lead with 3-pointers from Breckyn Thompson and Warrell. Strok three attempt at the buzzer hit the rim and bounced out, as the Knights took a slim 31-29 lead into halftime.
Right away in the second, Tommy Lees steal and subsequent basket tied the game at 31 — the first of six second-half ties. New Glarus responded with baskets from Marty, Max Parman and Lawrence Vasquez, but Fisher’s fast-break bucket tied the game once again at 37. With a reverse layup from Fisher, Deerfield took its first lead of the second half.
To tie at 39, Emery Johnson nabbed a steal, passed to Vasquez, who found Strok for a basket. Strok and Vasquez found each other again for New Glarus to take a 41-40 lead.
Free throws gave Deerfield the lead gain at 42-41, and this time, the Demons didn’t let it slip away. Despite the two teams being tied at 42 and 44, Deerfield went on a 9-2 run, guided by Wetzel, Fisher and Jackson Drobac.
Down by seven, Strok and Parman stepped up for the Knights. Strok drained a three followed by a bucket for five points. Parman sank his own 3-pointer to get within three at 56-53. The Demons went back up by seven, but Parman hit another three with just over a minute remaining. Strok followed with his own three to make it a two-point game with 31.2 seconds remaining.
Strok had the opportunity to tie the game, but he lost control of the ball driving to the basket, giving it to Deerfield. The Knights were then forced to foul, and the Demons closed the game out going 4-for-4 from the free-throw line.
Strok led New Glarus with 16 points, including two 3-pointers. Warrell had another pair of threes for six points, with the final three 3-pointers coming from Thompson (four points), Parman (nine points) and Friedrich (five points). Strok was the only player in double figures, as Parman’s nine points was the second-highest.
Fisher finished with a team-high 20 points, going 6-for-7 from the charity stripe. Wetzel followed with 12 points, while the duo of Kimmel and Drobac tallied 10 points each.
