MONROE — Just 48 hours after an exhilarating 96-94 win in overtime over Milton, the Monroe Cheesemakers enjoyed a 41-point blowout victory, 74-33 over the Delavan-Darien Comets in Rock Valley Conference, Valley Division action on Thursday Feb. 12.
Junior Graysan Bartholf scored 18 points on six three-pointers, all roughly from the same spot, to lead the Cheesemakers in scoring. Junior Kam Gerber-Reamer had 14 points and senior Logan Taylor added 11 points as the Cheesemakers won their eighth straight game.
Senior Miles Versnik tied the game at 19-19 with a basket and Bartholf snapped off a three to put Monroe in front 22-19 with just over 5:00 remaining in the first half. The Cheesemakers never trailed after that. Bartholf and Taylor each knocked down a three before halftime to give Monroe a 35-23 lead at the break.
The Cheesemakers began the second half on a 10-0 run to take a 45-23 lead. Monroe kept up the scoring with a three by Bartholf followed by senior Mekhi Brown’s layup to take command at 53-27. Junior Drew Monroe made a basket with 5:40 remaining to put the Cheesemakers ahead by 40 at 70-30 and start a running clock.
Cheesemakers coach Brian Bassett was not surprised Bartholf had a great night shooting the basketball with his six threes.
“Oh, he always shoots like that,” said Bassett. “He’s got all the records for our shooting games so we know he can shoot like that. Our guys just got to get him the ball in the right spot.”
Monroe remains a half-game behind East Troy for first place in the RVC-Valley.
Beaver Dam 65, Monroe 55
BEAVER DAM — The Monroe Cheesemakers faced the Beaver Dam Golden Beavers in a nonconference game that was postponed Nov. 29 to Saturday, Feb. 14 and had their eight-game winning streak snapped.
The Beavers came in at 15-4 and resembled the type of competition the Cheesemakers could face in the later rounds of the post-season should the Cheesemakers advance.
Senior Mekhi Brown drilled a three to give the Cheesemakers a 17-8 lead in the first half. Later in the half, Brown scored on a driving layup to tie the game at 22-22.
The second half was a different story as the Beavers took a 36-24 lead until senior Logan Taylor buried a three pointer to pull the Cheese within nine points at 36-27. The Beavers opened up a 16 point lead before senior Miles Versnik hit a corner three that made the score 49-36 in favor of the Beavers. Brown got a steal and a layup to get Monroe within 11 points at 53-42. The deficit remained at 11 when junior Kamrin Gerber-Reamer sank a three to cut Beaver Dam’s lead to eight points at 57-49. But, the Cheesemakers could not get any closer.
Taylor led the Cheesemakers with 18 points and Brown had 13 points. The big difference in the game was shooting percentage. The Golden Beavers shot 53% while Monroe made just 37% of their shots.
Monroe (15-6, 9-2 RVC-Valley) had East Troy on their schedule for Tuesday, Feb. 17.
