MONROE — The Cheesemakers have had to live up to the mantra of “next man up” all season. Injuries to key players have hit the squad, and yet Monroe sits atop the conference standings in the Rock Valley-Valley.

That also means the Cheesemakers (11-6, 4-0 RVC-V) have a target on their back each and every night they step onto the court. 

“We’re going to get their best,” Monroe coach Brian Bassett said after his squad had to grind out a 57-51 win over Big Foot (5-12, 0-5 RVC-R) on Feb. 4 in a conference crossover contest. “Hats off to Big Foot.”

The Cheesemakers lost their best player before the season could even get underway, as Preseason Conference Player of the Year Logan Taylor was sidelined with an injury. Senior guard Brody Cornfield has battled a hamstring injury dating back almost a year. Last weekend, one of the team’s top scoring threats, 6-foot-10 JJ Meyer was hurt in a pickup game and sidelined with a foot injury.

“We’ve rotated our starting lineup more than I have ever seen us do in 25 years here in Monroe. This year I don’t think we’ve had three games in a row with the same starting lineup,” Bassett said.

Then, in the second half against Big Foot, star guard Mekhi Brown took a hard shot to the side of his head and neck on a shot. Adding insult to injury, no foul was called.

Junior guard Marcus Ott helped calm things down, as did Cornfield, who found that late-season spark coaches hope to see from their seniors.

“Marcus steadied the ship down the stretch. He’s finally getting back into a rhythm and up to speed,” Bassett said. “Brody has been such a glue guy for us. He’s started, he’s come off the bench, he’s done all these different roles. He played the five tonight, which is not his position, but he’ll do whatever it takes to make our team successful.”

Cornfield’s eight points were more than a solid contribution — he also went 4-for-4 from the free throw line. 

“I think he’s starting to get back into a rhythm. He missed track, he missed summer league, he was nursing it this fall. When guys are hurt like that, they don’t get to improve — they’re just rehabbing all the time,” Bassett said. “Now he’s back to practicing every day and finally feeling good. His skills are improving and he’s becoming comfortable again.”

Ott had 15 points overall, was 5-for-7 from the charity stripe, grabbed seven rebounds and added five steals. 

“All of us can score,” said JT Meyer, a sophomore post player.

The big man was unquestionably Monroe’s player of the game. Against Big Foot, JT Meyer was the bigger boot, finishing with a game-high 25 points on 11 of 17 shooting and pulling down 12 boards off the glass.

He expects to get a lot of attention when stepping on to the court simply because of his 6-foot-8 frame. However, he’s continued to work on his craft and toughening up for inevitable body contact in the paint.

“I think a big help is my coach. He has always pushed me a lot,” said Meyer, who works on his game in the gym before school each day.

Meyer posted up against Dakota Nordmeyer time and time again, and was able to take advantage. Nordmeyer, a talented player in his own right, scored 18 points to lead Big Foot.

“We knew he (Nordmeyer) has been shooting the ball really, really well,” Bassett said. “(Miles Versnik) had some good rebounds, some good energy and played really good defense on (Nordmeyer) when he came in. A great game from him once again.”

Turnovers plagued Monroe in the first half, as the Cheesemakers were unable to get into a regular offensive rhythm. Monroe finished the night with 14 turnovers — one more than Big Foot. The Cheesemakers, which led 27-25 at halftime, made up for it in the second half thanks to some dominating play down low. Monroe out-scored Big Foot 40-18 inside and finished with 39 rebounds to the Chiefs 21. Big Foot lived and died by the deep ball. The Chiefs were 8-for-27 (29.6%) from beyond the arc, while Monroe was just 2-for-15 (13.3%).

“We were horrible on defense, so that didn’t help. The problem was in the first half when we were gambling and we allowed their average shooters to get hot,” Bassett said.

Monroe has seven more games on its schedule this season, including two nonconference tilts against former Badger Conference foes Monona Grove and Milton. Bassett is hoping that not only can his injured players get healthy soon, but that the players filling the gaps are making the most of their extra minutes.

“We just have to stay hungry out there and not get comfortable with how we’re playing,” Bassett said.