When sophomore Phoenix Homan prepared for her team’s nonconference game against Monroe on Feb. 3, she couldn’t help but think of last year’s match up. Early in the 2023-24 season, Monroe rallied to defeat Juda 35-30. Butterflies fluttered in Homan’s stomach — not because she thought her team was going to lose. Rather because she knew they could win.
“I was telling (Juda head coach Justy Roth) before the game that this was the most nervous I’ve ever been for a game,” Homan said. “I knew that we could actually do it and pull out the win.”
Homan’s gut instincts were correct, as Juda earned a 56-37 win over Monroe, amassing a double-digit lead eight minutes into the second half.
“It was a game that we had circled,” Juda head coach Justy Roth said. “We played really hard last year. It was one for those returning players that we wanted to get. They fought really hard today. They did the right things.”
The first six minutes foreshadowed another repeat of last year’s contest, as there were four ties and three lead changes. It wasn’t until Homan went to the line — making a pair of free throws — that Juda took a 9-7 lead it didn’t relinquish.
With assisted buckets by Makenna Scheidegger and Rianna Sullivan, paired with an offensive putback from Anna Bartels, the Panthers extended their lead to 15-7 at the 7:16 mark.
Monroe countered, drawing within one possession at 21-19. Sophie Conway and Anastasia Lattin grabbed offensive rebounds that resulted in points, Brynlee Scace drained a three-pointer while Brinley Roidt and Breanne Kundert chipped in.
Still trailing 23-19 taking the floor to start the second half, the Cheesemakers had golden opportunities to rally early. Drawing four shooting fouls on Juda — including Sullivan’s fourth — Monroe was just 1-for-8 from the charity stripe in the first two minutes.
“It was just one of those nights where the ball doesn’t seem to fall in, and it’s hard to get confidence,” Monroe head coach Patrick Kenny said. “It’s just a perfect example of how confidence is such an important factor when it comes to scoring the basketball. Unfortunately, we just haven’t had a whole lot of high-scoring games.”
Even with its tallest player on the bench with four fouls, Juda still managed to find a way to score with 6-foot Lattin and 5-foot-11-inch Alexis Gertsch on the floor for Monroe. It came from scrappy defense, transition points and quick releases.
Scheidegger began a 10-3 run with a quick shot from the short corner. A minute later, Scheidegger passed to Homan in the post, who made the bucket and drew a foul. She made the and-one for a three-point play.
Gertsch responded with her own bucket and trip to the line, but another quick shot from Scheidegger and old-fashioned three-point play from Homan erased Monroe’s efforts. In fact, Homan’s and-one capped a three-minute, 10-3 scoring run and gave Juda a 35-25 lead.
The advantage quickly reached 44-29 with back-to-back steals. Bartels intercepted a pass intended for Scace and took it down the floor for two points. On Monroe’s subsequent inbounds, Homan grabbed the ball under her own hoop and scored.
“You could tell that they (Monroe) were nervous in their eyes with every move that they made,” Homan said of her ability to tally seven steals.
The Cheesemakers called a timeout to regroup with five minutes left. Although they came out in a zone with trapping in the corners, the defensive change did little to change the outcome of the game.
In fact, the Panthers nearly reached a 20-point edge, as Rianna Sullivan scored back-to-back buckets on the weak side with assists from Scheidegger. Homan finished the game with a back-door cut and pass from Bartels for two points in the 56-37 final.
With the victory, Juda improved to 3-16. The last time the Panthers had a three-win season was 2021-22. If they can win one of their final four regular-season games, they’d have the best win total since 2017-18.
