MONROE - The Monroe High School girls basketball team opened some eyes across the state when it knocked off the top-ranked Division 3 team in Madison Edgewood earlier in the season.
The Cheesemakers will get a chance to play another top-ranked team today when Monroe hosts Beaver Dam at 4 p.m. Beaver Dam (5-0) is ranked No. 1 in the WisSports.net Division 2 Coaches poll, and Monroe (5-0, 3-0 Badger South) is ranked eighth. Beaver Dam defeated Monroe 80-65 last year. The Beavers finished 24-2 last year and were on the doorstep of qualifying for state before a 65-61 loss to Green Bay Notre Dame in a sectional championship game.
"It will give us a good measuring stick to see where we are at early in December," Monroe coach Sam Mathiason said. "We try to schedule good nonconference competition. We just try to play to the best of our ability."
The game against Beaver Dam begins a stretch of three games against currently ranked teams in a 19-day span. After playing Beaver Dam today, Monroe will host sixth-ranked Stoughton in a Badger South Conference showdown Thursday. After a game at Dubuque Wahlert Dec. 17 at Loras College, the Cheesemakers will host Verona, which is ranked No. 9 in Division 1, on Dec. 29.
"It's exciting because we are getting the big games at home," Mathiason said. "It will kind of be like a regional final on Saturday where we played a game on Friday."
Beaver Dam is led by 5-foot-8 point guard Cassidy Trotter, who is averaging 20 points per game. Trotter was the Wisconsin Little Ten Player of the Year last season, and she will play basketball next year at Michigan Tech.
The other top players for the Beavers are 5-11 sophomore Tara Stauffacher (12.7 ppg), junior Kaylee Miller (8.7 ppg), Maryn Ferron (8 ppg), 6-2 junior Afton Bartol (6.7 ppg) and 6-3 sophomore Aly Van Loo (6.7 ppg). Kara Crowley, who was an all-conference player for Dodgeville last year, moved to Beaver Dam and gives the Beavers even more depth.
Beaver Dam is coming off a 103-45 win over West Bend West onThursday.
"They (Beaver Dam) have a very good point guard," Mathiason said of Trotter. "They have a lot of different players and depth."
The Beavers at times play a 1-3-1 halfcourt zone and at other times use a fullcourt press. Mathiason said sometimes Beaver Dam uses the 6-2 Bartol and 6-3 Van Loo on the court together.
"They just have a lot of different ways they can attack teams," he said. "They can play five perimeter players on the court at one time or they may play their two post players out there together. It depends on the matchups against the other team."
With games against three ranked teams coming up, Mathiason is trying to keep the Cheesemakers focused on the goals at hand.
"The No. 1 goal is to be as competitive as we can in the conference," he said. "Beaver Dam is the next game on the schedule. Playing teams like Beaver Dam will help us be more competitive in the conference. We have to play games at that higher level. The other goal is, come tournament time, games like this will prepare us for the end of the year."
The Cheesemakers will get a chance to play another top-ranked team today when Monroe hosts Beaver Dam at 4 p.m. Beaver Dam (5-0) is ranked No. 1 in the WisSports.net Division 2 Coaches poll, and Monroe (5-0, 3-0 Badger South) is ranked eighth. Beaver Dam defeated Monroe 80-65 last year. The Beavers finished 24-2 last year and were on the doorstep of qualifying for state before a 65-61 loss to Green Bay Notre Dame in a sectional championship game.
"It will give us a good measuring stick to see where we are at early in December," Monroe coach Sam Mathiason said. "We try to schedule good nonconference competition. We just try to play to the best of our ability."
The game against Beaver Dam begins a stretch of three games against currently ranked teams in a 19-day span. After playing Beaver Dam today, Monroe will host sixth-ranked Stoughton in a Badger South Conference showdown Thursday. After a game at Dubuque Wahlert Dec. 17 at Loras College, the Cheesemakers will host Verona, which is ranked No. 9 in Division 1, on Dec. 29.
"It's exciting because we are getting the big games at home," Mathiason said. "It will kind of be like a regional final on Saturday where we played a game on Friday."
Beaver Dam is led by 5-foot-8 point guard Cassidy Trotter, who is averaging 20 points per game. Trotter was the Wisconsin Little Ten Player of the Year last season, and she will play basketball next year at Michigan Tech.
The other top players for the Beavers are 5-11 sophomore Tara Stauffacher (12.7 ppg), junior Kaylee Miller (8.7 ppg), Maryn Ferron (8 ppg), 6-2 junior Afton Bartol (6.7 ppg) and 6-3 sophomore Aly Van Loo (6.7 ppg). Kara Crowley, who was an all-conference player for Dodgeville last year, moved to Beaver Dam and gives the Beavers even more depth.
Beaver Dam is coming off a 103-45 win over West Bend West onThursday.
"They (Beaver Dam) have a very good point guard," Mathiason said of Trotter. "They have a lot of different players and depth."
The Beavers at times play a 1-3-1 halfcourt zone and at other times use a fullcourt press. Mathiason said sometimes Beaver Dam uses the 6-2 Bartol and 6-3 Van Loo on the court together.
"They just have a lot of different ways they can attack teams," he said. "They can play five perimeter players on the court at one time or they may play their two post players out there together. It depends on the matchups against the other team."
With games against three ranked teams coming up, Mathiason is trying to keep the Cheesemakers focused on the goals at hand.
"The No. 1 goal is to be as competitive as we can in the conference," he said. "Beaver Dam is the next game on the schedule. Playing teams like Beaver Dam will help us be more competitive in the conference. We have to play games at that higher level. The other goal is, come tournament time, games like this will prepare us for the end of the year."
