MONROE - The Monroe High School girls basketball team trailed by one point with less than a minute to go when 6-foot junior Sydney Mathiason left the Stoughton player she was guarding and ran to the player with the ball, looking like she was going to join a trap and attempt a steal.
Stoughton senior Kendra Halverson moved her foot and was called for traveling with 57.6 seconds to go. Monroe sophomore Sydney Hilliard then scored the game-winning layup with 42.8 seconds to go to give Monroe a 51-50 win over Stoughton, which is ranked No. 6 in the WisSports.net Division 2 coaches state poll.
"At the end of the game we were down by one point, and we knew we had to foul," Mathiason said. "I was going to foul and she (Halverson) took a step and was called for traveling."
For seventh-ranked Monroe (6-1, 4-0 Badger South), it's the second win over one of the state's top-10 ranked teams. The Cheesemakers also scored a 75-66 double-overtime win on Nov. 22 against Madison Edgewood, which is ranked No. 1 in Division 3.
It was an impressive win against the Vikings as the Cheesemakers stormed back from a 14-point deficit late in the first half.
"It's great for our team's confidence," Mathiason said. "It shows the conference what we are about. We just played really well as a team coming back from that 14 point deficit."
Hilliard scored a team-high 17 points, grabbed eight rebounds and had four steals. Mathiason scored 14 points, had six rebounds and three steals, and senior Jordan Hirsbrunner gave Monroe a lift by adding 10 points, all in the second half. Hirsbrunner was 5-for-5 shooting and had two steals.
"I told myself in my head that I was open and I had to shoot it," Hirsbrunner said. "Maybe they were surprised by my scoring because they were playing off me."
Mathiason drilled a 3-pointer to cut the Vikings' lead to 50-49 with 2:08 left. Hilliard tied up Stoughton's Marissa Robson for a jump ball with 6.1 seconds to go. With fouls to give, the Cheesemakers fouled the Vikings twice in the final 6 seconds to prevent a potential game-winning shot.
Now, the Cheesemakers are alone atop the Badger South Conference.
"It feels really good to be at the top of the conference," Hirsbrunner said. "Coming in we knew it was going to be a tough game, and it always is against Stoughton. We won it as a team."
Stoughton (5-2, 2-1) had an uncharacteristic 11 turnovers in the second half.
Halverson scored a game-high 20 points. Robson, a Northern Iowa recruit, scored 12 points and had nine rebounds. However, the Cheesemakers bottled Robson up in the second half, limiting her to just one basket and three points. Mathiason and senior Alicia Kuester had the challenge of guarding Robson, but the Cheesemakers used some collapsing double teams and help-side defense to slow her down. Robson was called for traveling three times in the second half down low.
"We knew she (Robson) was a really good player," Monroe coach Sam Mathiason said. "She's really good at getting position deep and getting those conversions. She's good at getting the ball and sliding into those gaps. I thought Sydney Mathiason and Alicia did a really good job of not letting her get really good position. They made it tough on her and when she did get it the help was there. I thought in the second half we did a much better job of taking those gaps away. I'm just proud of that team defense and really proud of the effort."
Early on, the Vikings had the upper hand. Stoughton jumped out to an 11-6 lead. The Vikings then went on a 15-6 run to build a 14-point lead. Stoughton's Emma Kissling and junior Cassidy Bach scored on layups. Kissling then hit a jumper to extend the Vikings' lead to 26-12 with 5:12 left in the first half.
The Cheesemakers closed the first half on a 6-0 spurt. Hilliard's three-point play sliced the Vikings' halftime lead to 31-25.
"We talked at halftime about how we could give up less than 31 points," Sam Mathiason said. "We had to do a better job of staying down on the perimeter and keeping them out of the lane. In the second half, we played with some grit, played hard, and we did that. We made the plays to pull it out."
Stoughton senior Kendra Halverson moved her foot and was called for traveling with 57.6 seconds to go. Monroe sophomore Sydney Hilliard then scored the game-winning layup with 42.8 seconds to go to give Monroe a 51-50 win over Stoughton, which is ranked No. 6 in the WisSports.net Division 2 coaches state poll.
"At the end of the game we were down by one point, and we knew we had to foul," Mathiason said. "I was going to foul and she (Halverson) took a step and was called for traveling."
For seventh-ranked Monroe (6-1, 4-0 Badger South), it's the second win over one of the state's top-10 ranked teams. The Cheesemakers also scored a 75-66 double-overtime win on Nov. 22 against Madison Edgewood, which is ranked No. 1 in Division 3.
It was an impressive win against the Vikings as the Cheesemakers stormed back from a 14-point deficit late in the first half.
"It's great for our team's confidence," Mathiason said. "It shows the conference what we are about. We just played really well as a team coming back from that 14 point deficit."
Hilliard scored a team-high 17 points, grabbed eight rebounds and had four steals. Mathiason scored 14 points, had six rebounds and three steals, and senior Jordan Hirsbrunner gave Monroe a lift by adding 10 points, all in the second half. Hirsbrunner was 5-for-5 shooting and had two steals.
"I told myself in my head that I was open and I had to shoot it," Hirsbrunner said. "Maybe they were surprised by my scoring because they were playing off me."
Mathiason drilled a 3-pointer to cut the Vikings' lead to 50-49 with 2:08 left. Hilliard tied up Stoughton's Marissa Robson for a jump ball with 6.1 seconds to go. With fouls to give, the Cheesemakers fouled the Vikings twice in the final 6 seconds to prevent a potential game-winning shot.
Now, the Cheesemakers are alone atop the Badger South Conference.
"It feels really good to be at the top of the conference," Hirsbrunner said. "Coming in we knew it was going to be a tough game, and it always is against Stoughton. We won it as a team."
Stoughton (5-2, 2-1) had an uncharacteristic 11 turnovers in the second half.
Halverson scored a game-high 20 points. Robson, a Northern Iowa recruit, scored 12 points and had nine rebounds. However, the Cheesemakers bottled Robson up in the second half, limiting her to just one basket and three points. Mathiason and senior Alicia Kuester had the challenge of guarding Robson, but the Cheesemakers used some collapsing double teams and help-side defense to slow her down. Robson was called for traveling three times in the second half down low.
"We knew she (Robson) was a really good player," Monroe coach Sam Mathiason said. "She's really good at getting position deep and getting those conversions. She's good at getting the ball and sliding into those gaps. I thought Sydney Mathiason and Alicia did a really good job of not letting her get really good position. They made it tough on her and when she did get it the help was there. I thought in the second half we did a much better job of taking those gaps away. I'm just proud of that team defense and really proud of the effort."
Early on, the Vikings had the upper hand. Stoughton jumped out to an 11-6 lead. The Vikings then went on a 15-6 run to build a 14-point lead. Stoughton's Emma Kissling and junior Cassidy Bach scored on layups. Kissling then hit a jumper to extend the Vikings' lead to 26-12 with 5:12 left in the first half.
The Cheesemakers closed the first half on a 6-0 spurt. Hilliard's three-point play sliced the Vikings' halftime lead to 31-25.
"We talked at halftime about how we could give up less than 31 points," Sam Mathiason said. "We had to do a better job of staying down on the perimeter and keeping them out of the lane. In the second half, we played with some grit, played hard, and we did that. We made the plays to pull it out."
