MONROE — The Cheesemakers’ girls basketball team closed out the home slate of the season with a win followed by a loss Feb. 13 and 15.

Monroe defeated Milton 67-50 Feb. 13, then lost on Senior Night Feb. 15 to Watertown, 48-39.

The Cheesemakers were then given the No. 5 seed in the WIAA Division 2 sectional playoff bracket, meaning the chance for hosting one more game for the team’s seven seniors is unlikely.

In the win over Milton, Monroe fell behind early, trailing for nearly all of the first seven minutes of the game. A putback by junior Megan Benzschawel gave the Cheesemakers a 10-9 advantage at the 10:59 mark as part of a 6-0 run. 

Milton recaptured the lead, but a 3-point play on a hoop-and-the-harm basket by Grace Tostrud tied it at 17 with 5:38 to go. Moments later, Tostrud stole the ball and Emma Towne eventually found Benzschawel for a bucket in the paint at the 5:10 mark to make it 19-17 Monroe. From then on, the Cheesemakers never relinquished the lead.

“Early on we had a couple of turnovers against the press that weren’t really good, then we got better at that. We put some defensive stops together,” Monroe coach Sam Mathiason said.

Tostrud’s big hoop started a 14-1 run that saw Monroe eventually go up by double digits. The Cheesemakers went into halftime ahead 32-22 and then scored the first six points of the second half to blow the game open.

“Coach just said that they were going to come out fighting and we had to come out with the same energy and get going from the start,” Benzschawel said.

Tostrud led the Cheesemakers with 20 points, scoring 10 in each half and hitting all 10 of her free throw attempts. She also stole two passes, dished out three assists and hauled in 17 rebounds, with 13 coming in the first half.

“I would say that, this year especially, I have just made it more of a point to focus on rebounding and going after the ball. It’s just a mindset that you’re going after the ball,” Tostrud said.

Benzschawel scored 15 of her 18 points in the first half. She added nine rebounds and three steals before exiting late in the second after getting poked in the eye on a rebound.

Senior Grace Mathiason scoring nine of her 12 points in the second half and finished with two steals and nine rebounds. Freshman Taylor Jacobson added eight points, Emma Towne had four steals and Chloe Bunker finished with five rebounds. 

“I would say that we are playing pretty well right now and moving the ball well. We’re getting everybody involved and working really hard in practice,” Tostrud said.

As a team, Monroe was 22 of 29 from the free throw line, stole 15 balls and snagged 45 rebounds. The Cheesemakers also committed 23 turnovers to Milton’s 19. Abbie Campion led the Red Hawks with 22 points, including 12 in the second half, with three long triples with the score out of hand.

“I thought in that second half our defense was really good early,” coach Mathiason said. “In the second half we were more disciplined; made them try to make tough shots; did a great job rebounding and then I thought we shared the ball well on the offensive end. We started to string together some of those stops on the defensive end with scores on offense.”

In the loss to Watertown, the Cheesemakers led 19-16 at halftime, but the Goslings erupted in the second half. Teya Maas finished the night with 21 points for Watertown, with teammate Avalon Uecke adding 17. 

Benzschawel led Monroe with 15 points, while Jacobson had nine. Tostrud finished with six points in the last game on her home court, while Mathiason had four, Kayleigh Nesbitt and Sadie Conway two and Chloe Bunker one.

“It’s a team game and I thought that we did a good job with lots of different people contributing in lots of different ways. For us to be successful, we have to keep building on that,” coach Mathiason said.

Monroe still has one game left on its regular season slate, an away game at Stoughton Feb. 20. The Cheesemakers then have a bye in the opening round of the WIAA Division 2 playoffs, but will play at fourth-seeded Waunakee Feb. 28 with the winner either traveling to top-seeded DeForest or hosting either McFarland or Stoughton Feb. 29.

“Obviously experience always helps. It helps calm my nerves that I’ve been in this situation before, especially with nearly everyone on the team last year,” Tostrud said. Nine of the 10 Cheesemakers were on last year’s team that went to the state finals. “As a senior, I’m trying to enjoy every minute because it goes so fast.”