ELKHORN - In their first game in the Elkhorn tournament, the Monroe boys basketball team knocked off the host Elks, 52-32.
Monroe had just a one-point lead after the first quarter, but the Cheesemakers outscored Elkhorn by eight in both the second and third quarters to take a 17-point lead into the fourth. Monroe won the final period 9-6 to seal the victory.
Nine of the Cheesemakers 11 players made their way into the scoring column. Senior Brian Schneider led the team with 11 points. Junior Jake Hirsbrunner knocked down a couple of 3-pointers on his way to 10 points, while senior big man Joe Latimer added nine for Monroe.
The Cheesemakers knew coming into the game that one key would be stopping Elkhorn's two leading scorers, Drew Bryson and Arik Anderson.
"On defense we did a really good job on Bryson and Anderson," Monroe coach Pat Murphy said. "We knew going in we would have to keep them in front of us and make them shoot over us. We stuck to our rules that we talk about in practice."
Added Schneider, "We knew they had some good guards. We just tried to stay in front of them."
Monroe heads back to Elkhorn tomorrow for a game with Westosha Central. Murphy said that the purpose of scheduling these holiday tournaments is to prepare for the postseason.
"We schedule this tournament to try to simulate regionals," he said. "In the regional you have to win on Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday. So that's why we do it, to prepare for that."
Monroe lost to Westosha Central last season, and Murphy said that they are a very different style team than Elkhorn.
"They're big," said Murphy of Westosha Central. "We got to watch the start of their game. They beat us up last year pretty good. Elkhorn is smaller, quicker. Now we're gonna play them, who's bigger. We get to see two different styles."
Monroe improved to 8-1 with the win.
Monroe had just a one-point lead after the first quarter, but the Cheesemakers outscored Elkhorn by eight in both the second and third quarters to take a 17-point lead into the fourth. Monroe won the final period 9-6 to seal the victory.
Nine of the Cheesemakers 11 players made their way into the scoring column. Senior Brian Schneider led the team with 11 points. Junior Jake Hirsbrunner knocked down a couple of 3-pointers on his way to 10 points, while senior big man Joe Latimer added nine for Monroe.
The Cheesemakers knew coming into the game that one key would be stopping Elkhorn's two leading scorers, Drew Bryson and Arik Anderson.
"On defense we did a really good job on Bryson and Anderson," Monroe coach Pat Murphy said. "We knew going in we would have to keep them in front of us and make them shoot over us. We stuck to our rules that we talk about in practice."
Added Schneider, "We knew they had some good guards. We just tried to stay in front of them."
Monroe heads back to Elkhorn tomorrow for a game with Westosha Central. Murphy said that the purpose of scheduling these holiday tournaments is to prepare for the postseason.
"We schedule this tournament to try to simulate regionals," he said. "In the regional you have to win on Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday. So that's why we do it, to prepare for that."
Monroe lost to Westosha Central last season, and Murphy said that they are a very different style team than Elkhorn.
"They're big," said Murphy of Westosha Central. "We got to watch the start of their game. They beat us up last year pretty good. Elkhorn is smaller, quicker. Now we're gonna play them, who's bigger. We get to see two different styles."
Monroe improved to 8-1 with the win.
