MONROE — There were no surprises between Monroe and Brodhead in the Rock Valley Conference crossover game on Friday, Jan. 19. The two teams — located just 15 miles apart — have met over the past years in the New Glarus holiday tournament, summer league and now in conference. 

The Cheesemakers benefited from the familiarity more, exploiting the Cardinals inside and sprinkling in 3-pointers for a 72-59 victory.

“We are very familiar with them being so close by. It’s easier to scout them because you know who they are, but you still have to stop them, which is tough with (James) Seagreaves,” Brodhead head coach Tommy Meier said. “We knew what we were up against, but we just didn’t do as well as we needed to.”

To make up for the size discrepancy — Monroe’s James Seagreaves stands at 6-foot-6 and Ryan Mathiason at 6-foot-8, while Brodhead’s Nathan Engen measures up to 6-foot-4 — the Cardinals let it fly from the 3-point line.

Brodhead built up a 16-11 lead with 12 of those points coming from beyond the arc. Brody Riese tied the game at three, followed by back-to-back shots from deep from Jaxon Dooley and Gabe Bockhop. Sam Searls got in on the action with his own 3-pointer.

“We knew we weren’t going to have a lot of success tonight down low just because of their size,” Meier said. “We don’t like to live and die by the three, but it was a necessity tonight.”

Cullen Walker’s reverse layup gave Brodhead a 16-11 lead and forced Monroe’s first timeout. 

Out of the pause, Brody Cornfield fed Marcus Ott for two. Cornfield then tied the game at 16 with a 3-pointer on a kickout from Josh Meyer. Seagreaves then gave Monroe an 18-16 lead, shooting over two defenders. From that point on, the Cheesemakers never trailed.

“Brody has been getting after it in practice like crazy,” Monroe head coach Brian Bassett said. “He’s really made some strides in the last two weeks defensively and offensively. The game has slowed down for him, and he’s getting good looks at the hoop or he’s getting good looks for other people.”

Just four minutes later, Monroe built up a 10-point lead. Logan Taylor kept the run going with his first points of the game. Cornfield followed with a 1-for-2 trip to the line. Mekhi Brown and Mathiason scored back-to-back buckets, and Seagreaves took a defensive rebound back for two points.

Brody Riese gave the Cardinals a little bit of life with an and-one, but Monroe pressed on.

Taylor drew a foul on Dooley and made both free-throw attempts. He followed with a 3-pointer for a 33-21 lead. After a Walker bucket, Seagreaves grabbed his own rebound and put it back for two. He then grabbed a defensive rebound and went all the way for a slam dunk. Brown’s 3-pointer put Monroe ahead by 15 — its largest lead of the half.  

In the final two minutes, Walker recorded another bucket, and Mathiason made a free throw. The Cardinals entered halftime in a 14-point hole, but Meier still had confidence.

“A 14-point lead isn’t that big of a deal with our offense and scoring,” Meier said. “We knew we needed the defensive stops.”

Brodhead gave up three free throws in the first two minutes before going on an 11-point run. Walker drained his second three of the new half, and Engen’s and-one cut Monroe’s advantage to single digits. Riese scored with an assist from Bockhop, and Searls hit a three to make it a 45-41 game.

Bassett quickly called a timeout, allowing his team to recollect. Cornfield and Ott trapped Walker, as Cornfield came away with the steal and two points on the offensive end. Seagreaves then made three of four free throws. Mathiason’s putback put Monroe ahead by double digits once again.

“It gives you more options if you don’t have them quite as beat as a taller dude — you can still finish over them. It helps with kickouts being able to see over them,” Seagreaves said of his and Mathiason’s height advantage. 

Aggressive play turned into fouls for Monroe, as Brodhead reached bonus with 9:53 left in the game. The Cardinals went 6-for-6 in a three-minute stretch to get back within six points, 55-49. 

“They are very aggressive defensively out on the perimeter. We knew we could get some calls if we were strong with the basketball,” Meier said. “It was nice to stay in the bonus and live at the free-throw line — getting the clock stopped when you are trailing is a great way to try and come from behind.”

Brodhead cut their deficit to six points again on a pair of double bonus free throws from Walker with two minutes left. To regain possession, though, the Cardinals were forced to foul. Monroe was 3-for-7 down the stretch to pull out the 72-59 win.

Walker led all scorers with 24 points, going 4-for-7 from deep and 4-for-5 at the charity stripe. With 952 career points and a 19.8 ppg average, he is poised to reach 1,000 career points in one of Brodhead’s upcoming games, likely against East Troy on Tuesday, Jan. 30. 

“When we let up on defense a little bit, Cullen was there to score right away,” Bassett said.

Searls and Riese also chipped in 10 points each.

Seagreaves led Monroe with 23 points and 15 rebounds for a double-double. Taylor tallied 16 points with a pair of threes. As a team, Monroe shot 52.9% from the field, including 35.3% from 3-point range.