MONROE - If anyone wondered how the Monroe girls basketball team would respond after a two-week break between games, sophomore point guard Sydney Hilliard and her sister, Lexi, gave a strong response early in the first half Thursday night.
The Hilliard sisters scored Monroe's first 16 points and the Cheesemakers rolled to a 59-49 win over Verona, ranked eighth in the WisSports.net Division 1 Coaches poll. Monroe (7-1), ranked fifth in Division 2, led by 12 points most of the second half.
Sydney Hilliard scored a game-high 26 points and had nine rebounds. Senior Lexi Hilliard, junior Sydney Mathiason and sophomore Emily Benzschawel each added eight points.
"It's huge considering they (Verona) won the state championship last year," Sydney Hilliard said of the win. "We haven't played a game in two weeks. We competed with them the whole game. We started out strong and finished strong."
Monroe is now 3-1 against teams ranked in the top 10 in the state. The only loss against an upper-echelon team was 70-49 against Beaver Dam, the top-ranked team in Division 2, on Dec. 10.
"Verona is a very good and solid team," Monroe coach Sam Mathiason said. "I'm proud of the effort the kids played with. It's a good way to end 2016."
The Cheesemakers were tested by the Wildcats' 2-2-1 three-quarter-court press with some trapping.
"Last year we lost in a blowout," Hilliard said, referencing the Wildcats' 81-43 victory over the Cheesemakers on Dec. 29, 2015. "It's exciting to see how much we have improved, especially against their press. It shows how much we have grown."
Lexi Hilliard drilled two 3-pointers early in the first half Thursday to help the Cheesemakers take an 11-7 lead.
"Lexi hitting those two 3-pointers early helped stretch out their zone and gave us more lanes to drive," Mathiason said.
Sydney Hilliard scored on a putback and had a three-point play to help the Cheesemakers take a 16-11 lead with 7 minutes, 35 seconds left in the first half.
"Sydney (Hilliard) just has that knack to find a way to get to the basket and score," Mathiason said.
The lead grew to nine points at 24-15 after Benzschawel's layup and Mathiason's 3-pointer with 4:10 to go.
The Cheesemakers broke down the Wildcats' 3-2 and 2-3 zones in the first half, and they scored most of their points in the paint en route to a 28-21 halftime lead.
The Cheesemakers limited the Wildcats to 33.3 percent shooting in the first half (8 of 24). Monroe shot 40.7 percent in the first half (11 of 27).
Verona senior Alex Luehring, a University of Wisconsin-Green Bay recruit, scored a team-high 18 points. Luehring was 8 of 17 shooting and hit two 3-pointers.
"She made six 3-pointers against us last year so we knew she could shoot it," Mathiason said. "I thought we made her work for those 18 points she got."
The Cheesemakers got off to a strong start in the second half after Benzschawel knocked down a jumper to extend the lead to 35-25. The lead see-sawed between 10 and 12 points most of the second half. Monroe senior Jordan Hirsbrunner hit a jumper and Sydney Hilliard hit a 3-pointer to give the Cheesemakers a 42-30 lead with 12:35 left in the second half.
The Wildcats looked to rally late by employing a 2-2-1 press, but the Cheese-makers made enough plays to maintain the advantage.
Mathiason said handling Verona's pressure defense is something they worked on in practice.
"I thought we could have been a little bit sharper against their press," he said. "We were not as sharp as I would have liked. I think we got a little more comfortable with the press later in the game."
The Hilliard sisters scored Monroe's first 16 points and the Cheesemakers rolled to a 59-49 win over Verona, ranked eighth in the WisSports.net Division 1 Coaches poll. Monroe (7-1), ranked fifth in Division 2, led by 12 points most of the second half.
Sydney Hilliard scored a game-high 26 points and had nine rebounds. Senior Lexi Hilliard, junior Sydney Mathiason and sophomore Emily Benzschawel each added eight points.
"It's huge considering they (Verona) won the state championship last year," Sydney Hilliard said of the win. "We haven't played a game in two weeks. We competed with them the whole game. We started out strong and finished strong."
Monroe is now 3-1 against teams ranked in the top 10 in the state. The only loss against an upper-echelon team was 70-49 against Beaver Dam, the top-ranked team in Division 2, on Dec. 10.
"Verona is a very good and solid team," Monroe coach Sam Mathiason said. "I'm proud of the effort the kids played with. It's a good way to end 2016."
The Cheesemakers were tested by the Wildcats' 2-2-1 three-quarter-court press with some trapping.
"Last year we lost in a blowout," Hilliard said, referencing the Wildcats' 81-43 victory over the Cheesemakers on Dec. 29, 2015. "It's exciting to see how much we have improved, especially against their press. It shows how much we have grown."
Lexi Hilliard drilled two 3-pointers early in the first half Thursday to help the Cheesemakers take an 11-7 lead.
"Lexi hitting those two 3-pointers early helped stretch out their zone and gave us more lanes to drive," Mathiason said.
Sydney Hilliard scored on a putback and had a three-point play to help the Cheesemakers take a 16-11 lead with 7 minutes, 35 seconds left in the first half.
"Sydney (Hilliard) just has that knack to find a way to get to the basket and score," Mathiason said.
The lead grew to nine points at 24-15 after Benzschawel's layup and Mathiason's 3-pointer with 4:10 to go.
The Cheesemakers broke down the Wildcats' 3-2 and 2-3 zones in the first half, and they scored most of their points in the paint en route to a 28-21 halftime lead.
The Cheesemakers limited the Wildcats to 33.3 percent shooting in the first half (8 of 24). Monroe shot 40.7 percent in the first half (11 of 27).
Verona senior Alex Luehring, a University of Wisconsin-Green Bay recruit, scored a team-high 18 points. Luehring was 8 of 17 shooting and hit two 3-pointers.
"She made six 3-pointers against us last year so we knew she could shoot it," Mathiason said. "I thought we made her work for those 18 points she got."
The Cheesemakers got off to a strong start in the second half after Benzschawel knocked down a jumper to extend the lead to 35-25. The lead see-sawed between 10 and 12 points most of the second half. Monroe senior Jordan Hirsbrunner hit a jumper and Sydney Hilliard hit a 3-pointer to give the Cheesemakers a 42-30 lead with 12:35 left in the second half.
The Wildcats looked to rally late by employing a 2-2-1 press, but the Cheese-makers made enough plays to maintain the advantage.
Mathiason said handling Verona's pressure defense is something they worked on in practice.
"I thought we could have been a little bit sharper against their press," he said. "We were not as sharp as I would have liked. I think we got a little more comfortable with the press later in the game."
