MONROE — Senior James Seagreaves, a candidate for the Rock Valley Conference Player of the Year, had a lot to do with Monroe’s 63-60 win over Jefferson on Friday, Feb. 16. In the final 30 seconds, he made two clutch free throws, blocked a game-tying 3-point attempt and grabbed a defensive rebound to secure the win.

“Hats off to James. We’ve challenged him all year long. We told him, this is probably for Player of the Year, whoever wins this game,” Monroe head coach Brian Bassett said of Seagreaves and Jefferson’s Aidan Kammer. 

Seagreaves wasn’t the only significant contributor. Marcus Ott made two 3-pointers two minutes apart in the second half, and Mekhi Brown gave Monroe the lead for good, 61-58, on a bucket from beyond the arc.

“It came from places it doesn’t normally come from,” Bassett said of the timely baskets. “Mekhi has been good all year. For him to hit those shots was huge. Marcus has really been turning it on lately. He’s been shooting with confidence.”

Despite the favorable outcome, Monroe began the game in a deficit. Finn Deblare put Jefferson on the board first with a baseline drive for two. Logan Taylor and Andrew Altermatt traded 3-pointers before Tyler Schroedl extended the Eagles’ lead with a pair of free throws. 

Monroe stayed within one possession of Jefferson by feeding Seagreaves, Ryan Mathiason and Josh Meyer in the post. 

Taylor sparked a run midway through the half that led to a Cheesemaker lead. Meyer set a screen for Taylor, and Brady Vogel recovered too late, resulting in a three for Taylor. After a defensive stop, Seagreaves scored in the post, as Karim Cisse fell to the floor, attempting to get a charge called. Instead, it left Seagreaves wide open for an easy two. Moments later, Taylor’s transition bucket, assisted by Seagreaves, gave Monroe a 19-18 lead with 8:31 left.

Neither team scored for over three minutes, as each missed four shots. Seagreaves ended the Cheesemaker drought right out of an Eagle timeout. On the other end of the floor, Mathiason blocked Deblare and fed the ball up to Seagreaves, who went the length of court and attempted to hurdle Drew Peterson for the dunk. Peterson’s foul interfered with the dunk enough for Seagreaves to miss, but Seagreaves made both shots at the line for a 23-18 lead.

“Our offense goes as our defense goes,” Bassett said. “If we are really good on defense, we are really good on offense.”

The largest Monroe’s lead got in the first half was six points. Taylor pulled up for a jumper that hit the front of the rim and bounced in for a 27-21 lead, and Meyer fed Seagreaves in the post for a 29-23 edge. 

Jefferson cut that down to 31-28 at halftime. Deblare made a deep 2-pointer and, with 18 seconds left, Schroedl hit a 3-pointer.

The Eagles came out of the locker room from halftime with momentum. Schroedl faked a handoff at the 3-point arc, then drove to the basket for a score. On the other end of the floor, he stole a pass intended for Mathiason and went coast-to-coast, dunking it to make it a 1-point game at 33-32.

Following a foul from Mathiason, Schroedl gave Jefferson a 34-33 lead with a pair of free throws. Seagreaves and Mathiason regained the lead — albeit briefly — as Seagreaves grabbed his own miss and, while falling to the floor, dished it to Mathiason for two.

The Eagles then built up a nine-point lead thanks to an 11-point run, but fouls began the plague the team. Colton Krause, who was tasked with guarding Seagreaves in the post, picked up his fourth foul with 11:56 left in the game. Mathiason withstood a charge from Kammer, his third foul, and went to the line for bonus free throws on Deblare’s third foul —with 10 minutes left yet in the contest. 

“They were playing hard the whole game,” Seagreaves said of the fouls. “It really slowed down the tempo and made them think more about their fouls — not hack as much. It allowed us to finish some things.”

Monroe took advantage of three Jefferson starters in foul trouble by getting it back to within one possession at 45-55 when Mathiason made both his bonus free throws, and Brown sunk a 3-pointer from the top of the key for a 45-44 game.

Jefferson briefly pulled away again with five straight points from Schroedl, but Ott’s three again cut the deficit to just one possession. On the opposite end, Mathiason deflected a pass into the waiting arms of Seagreaves, who then passed up to Brown for an easy two, making it 50-49 Jefferson.

Back-to-back threes from Deblare and Altermatt put the Eagles back up by seven, but Taylor’s pull-up jumper and Ott’s bank 3-pointer made it a 56-54 game.

Brown’s over-the-shoulder pass to Brody Cornfield for two tied the game at 58. Brown then gave Monroe the lead with a 3-pointer on a kickout from Taylor with just over a minute left in the game. 

Jefferson scored its final points at the line, as Schroedl made both of his bonus free throws. After the second make, Bassett called a timeout to strategize the final possession. 

Monroe played keep away for about 15 seconds, before Deblare fouled Seagreaves. At the line, Seagreaves made both of his shots for a 63-60 lead with just 29.3 seconds remaining. On the other end of the floor, he blocked Schrodel’s game-tying 3-point attempt. 

“You knew they were going to go for a tie,” Seagreaves said. “They didn’t want us to get back on offense and make it a two-possession game. He (Schroedl) is just a slow shooter. You can get to him and recover.”

Seagreaves grabbed the blocked shot and took it down the floor. Deblare knocked the ball loose, but Ott was there to recover on the right block. Ott missed the layup, and Seagreaves was called for the foul going for the rebound.

Following a Jefferson timeout, Deblare took the inbounds pass up the floor. Ott allowed Deblare to cross halfcourt before fouling him. At the line, Deblare missed his bonus shot, and Seagreaves came away with the defensive rebound. He chucked it up the floor to Ott, who dribbled out the final seconds for the win.

The trio of Seagreaves, Brown and Taylor finished in double figures. Seagreaves tallied 15 points, seven rebounds and eight assists. Brown finished with 10 points, including a pair of threes. Taylor also made two 3-pointers and had a team-best 16 points. 

Jefferson had three players in double figures, too, but Monroe kept the Eagles’ leading scorer, Kammer (17.5 ppg), to just five points.

With the win, Monroe controls its destiny in the Rock Valley Conference. With a win over Delavan-Darien on Monday, Feb. 19, the Cheesemakers would clinch at least a share of the RVC-Valley title. If the team can beat both Delavan-Darien and East Troy, Monroe would have the title outright.

“They really wanted this,” Bassett said. “I think we were a little arrogant coming into the Rock Valley Conference, thinking we were going to steam roll just like football did. Every team in the Rock Valley has been super awesome. The last two teams we play are going to be really good. We are just geared up for next week, and hopefully we can finish it out.”

The win also played an important role in playoff seeding, as the WIAA boys basketball brackets were released Sunday, Feb. 18. Monroe received a No. 4 seed and bye. Monroe will host No. 5 Monona Grove in a WIAA Division 2 regional semifinal on Friday, March 1.