MONROE — The Cheesemakers were in a position to snag its second win of the season in as many games. Clinton’s lead had dwindled to just five points, and Monroe was in the bonus — all with just under 10 minutes to play.

“We have to give a lot of credit to Clinton — they kept battling,” said Monroe coach Patrick Kenny after his team’s 68-50 nonconference home loss Feb. 1. “We tried to mix things up — we had some success on defense changing our looks a bit doing a little bit of trapping. We’ll get back to the drawing board now.”

Everything was in place: The Cougars had only nine healthy players and were falling deeper and deeper into foul trouble. Monroe would not only be shooting free throws the rest of the way, but forward Breanna Giasson was getting her feet back after missing nearly the entire season with a broken ankle.

“I didn’t realize how much I missed it until I got back out there,” Giasson said. “Once I got back out, it was a whole different feeling. I haven’t been out of the cast long (Jan. 16). I did everything to recover as fast as I could — physical therapy stretches, listening to my trainers. I’m glad to be back out.”

With 10:37 left in the second half, Monroe senior Sloane Ambrose went to the line for the first bonus shots of the half and made both, bringing Monroe’s one-time 11-point deficit down to just five at 48-43. Clinton then immediately turned the ball over, adding to the avalanche of misfortune. 

However, Monroe also turned the ball over. On the next possession, the Cheesemakers missed a pair of free throws. Then another turnover. And more missed free throws. 

For 12 straight possessions, Monroe didn’t score a point. The Cheesemakers missed eight straight free throws and had six turnovers in the 5 minute, 30 second stretch, all while the Cougars scored 11 straight points themselves.

“There were 12 possessions, we had good looks and missed a lot of free throws. That’s just part of this learning of playing athletics and playing sports — sometimes things don’t go your way when you do the right thing and you have to find a way to move on to the next play and keep your head up,” Kenny said.

Over the final 10:30 of the game, Clinton (11-8) outscored Monroe 20-7.

Ambrose led Monroe with 18 points, including a 6-for-6 mark from the free throw line. Taylor Jacobson had nine points and nine rebounds, and Giasson had eight — all in the first half.

“Sloane had another great game, back-to-back for her, making big plays and playing with a lot of confidence,” Kenny said. 

Giasson made her presence known right away, scoring on a putback for the game’s first points. She fought for loose balls and rebounds — collecting 13 rebounds, including four offensive — and added three assists, two blocks, a steal and several tipped balls.

“It was a little scary being back out. There’s always something nervous about being out there — my mom is definitely not thrilled about me being on the floor,” Giasson said. “It was really great to see all the fans here tonight — the seventh grade girls I help coach, I started that young and it’s crazy to think I am this far already.”

Clinton led 36-30 at halftime, a half where both teams controlled the ball, turning it over just twice each. Monroe finished the game with 13 turnovers, while the Cougars had eight — six in and none over the final 10 minutes. Clinton also hit nine 3-pointers in the game on 37 attempts (24%). Monroe didn’t hit a shot from beyond the arc.

“Clinton is a good shooting team and we knew we were going to have to capitalize on our looks, and unfortunately the ball wasn’t going in for us,” Kenny said. “We got a lot of good looks and we played our best first half of the year possession-wise. But we just couldn’t capitalize on some of those looks.”

Up next for Monroe (1-16) is a home game Feb. 3 against Oregon, followed by a nonconference contest at home versus Evansville Feb. 5.

Kenny said the chemistry of the team upon her return has changed and that the added confidence is palpable up and down the lineup.

“We talked about Bre coming back last week — she brings a lot of solidarity, a lot of confidence. She allows us to play a little bit more flexible,” Kenny said. “The girls have a new confidence within themselves. Now we just need to get some continuity going.”

Giasson said she’s felt the team come together a bit too — which is crucial given there are just five games remaining in the regular season.

“On Saturday there was something that just clicked,” Giasson said of the win over Portage. “We were down in the first half, and in the second half we came out and with the five of us out there, something just clicked. Our new defense was working really good.”