BRODHEAD — Members of the Monticello Ponies boys basketball team likely won’t forget the first game of 2020 anytime soon.

While the night ended as an 87-67 nonconference win over Brodhead, there were a handful of performances that stuck out most. Deciding which was more impactful may be moot.

Some of the more memorable moments include: Peter Gustafson’s 39-point scoring effort; Reece Rufer’s double-double with 22 points that put him over the 1,000-point mark in his career; and senior guard Simon Blohowiak, who finished with 16 points, 12 rebounds and four assists.

“I didn’t know how this game was going to go — it had been two and a half weeks since we played a basketball game. How are you going to knock that rust off against a good opponent?” Monticello coach Mark Olson said. “Brodhead can really play, can really shoot and handle the basketball and they really responded coming out of the break.”

Gustafson is the team leader in scoring, averaging just over 21 coming into the game. He had 16 at halftime and finished with six rebounds. The junior took advantage of the open floor as Brodhead looked to use a full court press and trap defense to create turnovers. 

“I was feeling good, everything was kind of falling,” Gustafson said. “Big lanes to attack, I like that, (and) I’ve been working on my free throws after practice. Everyone was doing good, and it was nice Reece got to his 1,000 points as well.”

He also went 10 for 13 from the free throw line. His 39 are the most from a Pony in years.

“There was a lot of open court space, and Pete plays well that way,” Olson said. “Side note, we’ve got a guy with over 2,000 points in our history — Jim Zweifel — he put up a lot of 40-, 50-point games. But it was a good game for Pete, for sure. And it’s a testament to his teammates as well — they spaced the floor and made some good opportunities available.”

Zweifel, a Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Famer, scored 2,303 points as a Pony and is still ranked 12th all-time in boys basketball state scoring history.

Rufer, the team’s second leading scorer, came in averaging 19 a game and needed 21 to reach the 1,000-point milestone. He had 10 points in the first half and sat at 18 with 9:15 to play. He missed a pair of 3s before scoring in the paint with 4:01 left, putting him a point away from the mark. With 2:11 left, the big man scored in the post off a pass from Blohowiak. 

“Those last two minutes I was getting a little worried. That last shot, I don’t think I’ve ever been more nervous taking a shot in my life,” Rufer said. “I’m glad that I got it; I’ve been working so hard and it’s a dream come true.”

Olson called a timeout so Rufer and his teammates could celebrate the occasion. At the time, the Ponies led 84-63.

“I couldn’t be happier for a guy like Reece — as much as he works on the game, as much as he loves the game of basketball, as great of a leader as he is for our team — he deserves an honor like that. I’m really happy that he had a nice crowd here to see that,” Olson said.

Knowing that opposing teams will try to scheme defenses to attempt to stop Rufer and Gustafson — a very tall task — Blohowiak found himself in the right spot much of the night. Whether it was grabbing an open rebound, charging past a defender with the ball in hand or finding the open shooter, Blohowiak showed he is more than a ‘one-trick pony.’

“Sometimes you have to have a little bit of luck in your shot,” said Blohowiak, who was coming off a wrist injury. “It was great getting back out there with my teammates. We made some halftime adjustments and then we rolled from there. They couldn’t guard us.”

Brodhead led 11-10 through the first six minutes of the game, but then the Ponies found a way to break the press and began hitting open shots, which included a big 3-pointer from Rudy Wicker.

“They pretty much did whatever they wanted to do to us. We knew coming in that Rufer and Gustafson were there two main guys and we wanted to limit them — but we didn’t do that at all,” Cardinals coach Tommy Meier said. “I was very disappointed with our effort. I can handle getting beat if we are working hard and things like that because the other team is better — and hats off to Monticello, they played well — but effort was lacking from us tonight.”

Monticello went into halftime leading 36-28, but went on a 14-5 run to open the second half and take complete control of the game.

“We talked about it in the locker room — it’s all about effort and attitude on the defensive end. Everybody loves to make a 3-ball, everybody wants to see you score, but when you give up 87, you’re not going to beat many teams no matter how many points you score. Attitude and effort are the biggest things we have to change,” Meier said.

The Ponies (8-0, 3-0 Six Rivers East), ranked seventh in the most recent Division 5 poll by the WBCA, has a big week coming up. Monticello was set to host Belleville in a nonconference game Jan. 6 before playing three straight Six Rivers East games: Albany (1-8, 0-3) Jan. 9, at Black Hawk (2-6, 2-1) Jan. 14 and against Pecatonica (3-5, 2-2) Jan. 17.

Brodhead had three players in double figures: Owen Leifker (12), Josiah Engen (11) and Cade Walker (10). Connor Green and Cody Malcook each added nine points, and Brady Malkow had seven.

The Cardinals (4-4, 2-3 RVC) jumped right back into Rock Valley action, with games against Whitewater (3-4, 1-4) Jan. 7, East Troy (8-1, 5-0) Jan. 10 and McFarland (6-2, 4-1) Jan. 16.