MONROE - In senior Jonah Tostrud's mind, the Monroe boys basketball team showed its resiliency and what they can do when their backs are against the wall in the final minute of the home opener against DeForest Tuesday.
Tostrud scored a game-high 21 points and the Cheesemakers nearly pulled off an improbable comeback after trailing by 13 points in the second half and by nine points in the final 1 minute, 6 seconds before falling short to DeForest 67-63.
"We showed when we play together and play team basketball we can battle back from deficits," Tostrud said. "We just need to work on playing like that the entire game."
Tostrud poked the ball away from DeForest sophomore Trey Schroeder and that led to junior Dagon Rach's steal and two free throws from Tostrud to cut the Norskies' lead to 66-61 with 27 seconds left. DeForest senior Jarrett Klein missed four free throws in the final 23 seconds that gave the Cheesemakers a chance. Rach then scored down low to slice the Norskies' lead to 66-63 with 17 seconds to go.
After Klein missed two free throws with 15 seconds left, the Cheesemakers needed a 3-pointer to force overtime. Monroe senior David Keegan's pass to senior Brayden Zettle in the corner near the stands was stolen by DeForest senior Sam Vomhoff to end the Cheesemakers' threat.
Zettle scored 18 points and made three 3-pointers. Rach added 10 points and junior Alex Lange despite not scoring played a pivotal role grabbing 10 rebounds and coming up with two steals.
"We definitely have a lot of fight in our team," Zettle said. "We just have to carry that over from game to game and not get down by so much early."
A dramatic finish almost wiped out the memory of a Monroe scoring drought. The Cheesemakers went through a 5 minute, 19 second cold spell where the Norskies used a 9-0 run to build a 13-point lead. Monroe had 10 of its 17 turnovers in the second half.
"I just think we turned the ball over way too much," Monroe coach Brian Bassett said. "We can't win games if we turn it over like that. We had probably our worst possible game and we hung with a pretty good DeForest team. The possibilities are endless if we curb those turnovers."
Bassett and the Cheesemakers (1-1) got the opportunity to tie the game with a 3-pointer in the final 12 seconds, but a shot attempt didn't come due to a turnover.
"With (Nick) Schumacher out we had some other guys playing point guard who are not used to it," Bassett said. "We wanted to drive a gap and kick it out to one of our 3-point shooters. That was our goal."
DeForest's 6- 4 junior Austin Westra scored a team-high 14 points, but fouled out with 4:12 left. Schorder and Klein each added 13 points.
The Cheesemakers led by as many as six points in the first half. Zettle scored 13 of his 18 points in the first half and hit two 3-pointers to help ignite a Cheesemakers' 11-4 run that gave them an 11-9 lead. The Norskies rallied in the final minute of the first half with Schroeder coming up with a steal that led to Westra's layup. Schroeder then scored on a layup with 8 seconds to go to give the Norskies (1-0) a 31-30 lead at the half.
"Turnovers were huge," Zettle said. "We had way too many turnovers. That was probably the deciding factor."
Klein and Schroeder each drilled 3-pointers early in the second half to help the Norskies take a 43-39 lead. During the Norskies' 9-0 spurt, DeForest junior Jack Bogan scored down low twice and DeForest junior Cody Riggs knocked down a 3-pointer.
After going through a second half scoring drought, Tostrud stressed a need to keep the ball moving when scoring opportunities are not falling.
"We need to be able to move the ball around, not drive too much and play team basketball," he said. "Then we can get our open shots and then knock those down."
Bassett commended Rach on his performance.
"He's been a big surprise," he said of Rach. "He wasn't going to come out for basketball this year. He was on the fence. I called him up and asked if it was anything I did. I told him if he wanted to we needed him. He's a smart kid. You can tell him once and he does it."
Bassett also stressed Lange's ability to rebound and get loose balls.
"He's shown a knack for being able to get his hands on balls the first two games," Bassett said of Lange. "Those offensive rebounds against Beloit Memorial he turned into points. I know he will do a good job in the future of turning them into points."
Tostrud didn't want to take anything away from the Norskies, but he's confident the Cheesemakers can turn the tables on other teams in tight games this season in the second half.
"They (DeForest) are a solid team. We showed we could hang with them without playing our best game as a team," Tostrud said. "We have to be more solid with the basketball. Then we can play with and beat teams like this."
Tostrud scored a game-high 21 points and the Cheesemakers nearly pulled off an improbable comeback after trailing by 13 points in the second half and by nine points in the final 1 minute, 6 seconds before falling short to DeForest 67-63.
"We showed when we play together and play team basketball we can battle back from deficits," Tostrud said. "We just need to work on playing like that the entire game."
Tostrud poked the ball away from DeForest sophomore Trey Schroeder and that led to junior Dagon Rach's steal and two free throws from Tostrud to cut the Norskies' lead to 66-61 with 27 seconds left. DeForest senior Jarrett Klein missed four free throws in the final 23 seconds that gave the Cheesemakers a chance. Rach then scored down low to slice the Norskies' lead to 66-63 with 17 seconds to go.
After Klein missed two free throws with 15 seconds left, the Cheesemakers needed a 3-pointer to force overtime. Monroe senior David Keegan's pass to senior Brayden Zettle in the corner near the stands was stolen by DeForest senior Sam Vomhoff to end the Cheesemakers' threat.
Zettle scored 18 points and made three 3-pointers. Rach added 10 points and junior Alex Lange despite not scoring played a pivotal role grabbing 10 rebounds and coming up with two steals.
"We definitely have a lot of fight in our team," Zettle said. "We just have to carry that over from game to game and not get down by so much early."
A dramatic finish almost wiped out the memory of a Monroe scoring drought. The Cheesemakers went through a 5 minute, 19 second cold spell where the Norskies used a 9-0 run to build a 13-point lead. Monroe had 10 of its 17 turnovers in the second half.
"I just think we turned the ball over way too much," Monroe coach Brian Bassett said. "We can't win games if we turn it over like that. We had probably our worst possible game and we hung with a pretty good DeForest team. The possibilities are endless if we curb those turnovers."
Bassett and the Cheesemakers (1-1) got the opportunity to tie the game with a 3-pointer in the final 12 seconds, but a shot attempt didn't come due to a turnover.
"With (Nick) Schumacher out we had some other guys playing point guard who are not used to it," Bassett said. "We wanted to drive a gap and kick it out to one of our 3-point shooters. That was our goal."
DeForest's 6- 4 junior Austin Westra scored a team-high 14 points, but fouled out with 4:12 left. Schorder and Klein each added 13 points.
The Cheesemakers led by as many as six points in the first half. Zettle scored 13 of his 18 points in the first half and hit two 3-pointers to help ignite a Cheesemakers' 11-4 run that gave them an 11-9 lead. The Norskies rallied in the final minute of the first half with Schroeder coming up with a steal that led to Westra's layup. Schroeder then scored on a layup with 8 seconds to go to give the Norskies (1-0) a 31-30 lead at the half.
"Turnovers were huge," Zettle said. "We had way too many turnovers. That was probably the deciding factor."
Klein and Schroeder each drilled 3-pointers early in the second half to help the Norskies take a 43-39 lead. During the Norskies' 9-0 spurt, DeForest junior Jack Bogan scored down low twice and DeForest junior Cody Riggs knocked down a 3-pointer.
After going through a second half scoring drought, Tostrud stressed a need to keep the ball moving when scoring opportunities are not falling.
"We need to be able to move the ball around, not drive too much and play team basketball," he said. "Then we can get our open shots and then knock those down."
Bassett commended Rach on his performance.
"He's been a big surprise," he said of Rach. "He wasn't going to come out for basketball this year. He was on the fence. I called him up and asked if it was anything I did. I told him if he wanted to we needed him. He's a smart kid. You can tell him once and he does it."
Bassett also stressed Lange's ability to rebound and get loose balls.
"He's shown a knack for being able to get his hands on balls the first two games," Bassett said of Lange. "Those offensive rebounds against Beloit Memorial he turned into points. I know he will do a good job in the future of turning them into points."
Tostrud didn't want to take anything away from the Norskies, but he's confident the Cheesemakers can turn the tables on other teams in tight games this season in the second half.
"They (DeForest) are a solid team. We showed we could hang with them without playing our best game as a team," Tostrud said. "We have to be more solid with the basketball. Then we can play with and beat teams like this."
