MONROE - The Monticello Ponies Cinderella story came to an end Friday night against Barneveld in a WIAA Division 4 sectional semifinal, 55-49 in two overtimes.
"I told my guys two things in the locker room. First, it's too bad there has to be a team to lose this basketball game," Monticello head coach Mark Olson said. "Second off, all but one team will end their season with a loss. I would rather lose a game like that, where we left absolutely everything on the floor. You can't walk away from a game like that and feel upset or disappointed."
The two Six Rivers East teams split the regular series, with each team winning on the road in overtime.
"You kind of knew it was coming," junior Tyler Ritschard said of the overtimes. "It's too bad someone had to lose. But Barneveld deserved it. If I had to lose to one team, it would be them."
The Ponies gave up a four-point lead entering the fourth quarter, but got a finger roll by Ritschard with seven seconds left to tie the game at 44.
"A game like this, a big time player like Tyler Ritschard you would expect to step up, and he did," Olson said.
Senior Michael Elzen saved the Ponies in the final seconds. After Barneveld called timeout, Eagles guard Derec Mieden got behind the defense in transition and appeared to have an routine layup as time was about to expire. That's when Elzen jumped across the gym and slammed a blocked shot out of bounds with :0.2 seconds left.
"We knew it was going to be a hard game where you were going to have to scrap," Elzen said. "We did what we wanted to, it just was a matter of who was the better team at the end, and they got it."
Neither team produced much offense in the first overtime. Monticello senior Tyler Meier had a chance to give his team the lead but was off the mark on the front end of a bonus free throw with 4.9 seconds left in the frame.
"I had a lot of confidence coming into the game. We're a team that can rely on almost anybody on any night," Meier said.
In the second overtime, Barneveld pulled away, knocking down four free throws, plus two shots in the paint by senior Logan Johnson, who led the Eagles with 17 points and 20 rebounds.
"We couldn't do anything more to shut Johnson down. He's just too good of an athlete and player to shut down," senior Corey McGowan said. "We practiced our butts off all week long to try and shut him down, but there is nothing we could do."
Monticello was playing for the eighth-straight game without senior guard Jacob Marty, who had averaged 12 points per game.
"It made us grow as a team. You never like to see a guy go down," McGowan said. "It took us a week to get back into a flow but I couldn't be happier with how the year finished."
Marty knew he wasn't going to enter the game, but said he was proud of the way the guys stepped up.
"I cannot tell you in words how proud I am of my team," he said. "Watching them made me forget (I was injured)."
The Ponies opened the gam with a big first quarter, outscoring Barneveld 9-2 over the final four minutes of the period and leading 13-8 headed into the second. By halftime, the advantage was sitting at 25-21 thanks to a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from sophomore Lukas Kolasch.
Barneveld took the lead not even three minutes into the third, but Monticello marched right back thanks to a 3-pointer from Meier, who finished with 17 points.
"Barneveld is a heck of a team," Meier said. "I really couldn't imagine playing a better team. You couldn't ask for more - three games, four overtimes. I couldn't respect their players any more. I would rather lose like that than any other way."
Ritschard, who scored a game-high 20 points, drove through the lane and got another shot to fall with four seconds left in the third.
"I just throw it up there and I get lucky a lot of the time. I just drive and try and create and make things happen. I can't see the basket because they are all taller than me," said Ritschard, who is listed as 5-feet, 8-inches.
Monticello ends its season with a 20-4 overall record. The Ponies also won the Edgerton Regional and were co-conference champions with Barneveld.
"I don't think it has hit me yet that the season is over. We played as hard as we could. We played as well as we could," Ritschard said.
Barneveld (22-4) won the rights to take on the state's top-ranked team, Randolph (26-0).
"I really hope Barneveld makes it to state. I would really love to see one of our conference teams make it there," Meier said.
"I told my guys two things in the locker room. First, it's too bad there has to be a team to lose this basketball game," Monticello head coach Mark Olson said. "Second off, all but one team will end their season with a loss. I would rather lose a game like that, where we left absolutely everything on the floor. You can't walk away from a game like that and feel upset or disappointed."
The two Six Rivers East teams split the regular series, with each team winning on the road in overtime.
"You kind of knew it was coming," junior Tyler Ritschard said of the overtimes. "It's too bad someone had to lose. But Barneveld deserved it. If I had to lose to one team, it would be them."
The Ponies gave up a four-point lead entering the fourth quarter, but got a finger roll by Ritschard with seven seconds left to tie the game at 44.
"A game like this, a big time player like Tyler Ritschard you would expect to step up, and he did," Olson said.
Senior Michael Elzen saved the Ponies in the final seconds. After Barneveld called timeout, Eagles guard Derec Mieden got behind the defense in transition and appeared to have an routine layup as time was about to expire. That's when Elzen jumped across the gym and slammed a blocked shot out of bounds with :0.2 seconds left.
"We knew it was going to be a hard game where you were going to have to scrap," Elzen said. "We did what we wanted to, it just was a matter of who was the better team at the end, and they got it."
Neither team produced much offense in the first overtime. Monticello senior Tyler Meier had a chance to give his team the lead but was off the mark on the front end of a bonus free throw with 4.9 seconds left in the frame.
"I had a lot of confidence coming into the game. We're a team that can rely on almost anybody on any night," Meier said.
In the second overtime, Barneveld pulled away, knocking down four free throws, plus two shots in the paint by senior Logan Johnson, who led the Eagles with 17 points and 20 rebounds.
"We couldn't do anything more to shut Johnson down. He's just too good of an athlete and player to shut down," senior Corey McGowan said. "We practiced our butts off all week long to try and shut him down, but there is nothing we could do."
Monticello was playing for the eighth-straight game without senior guard Jacob Marty, who had averaged 12 points per game.
"It made us grow as a team. You never like to see a guy go down," McGowan said. "It took us a week to get back into a flow but I couldn't be happier with how the year finished."
Marty knew he wasn't going to enter the game, but said he was proud of the way the guys stepped up.
"I cannot tell you in words how proud I am of my team," he said. "Watching them made me forget (I was injured)."
The Ponies opened the gam with a big first quarter, outscoring Barneveld 9-2 over the final four minutes of the period and leading 13-8 headed into the second. By halftime, the advantage was sitting at 25-21 thanks to a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from sophomore Lukas Kolasch.
Barneveld took the lead not even three minutes into the third, but Monticello marched right back thanks to a 3-pointer from Meier, who finished with 17 points.
"Barneveld is a heck of a team," Meier said. "I really couldn't imagine playing a better team. You couldn't ask for more - three games, four overtimes. I couldn't respect their players any more. I would rather lose like that than any other way."
Ritschard, who scored a game-high 20 points, drove through the lane and got another shot to fall with four seconds left in the third.
"I just throw it up there and I get lucky a lot of the time. I just drive and try and create and make things happen. I can't see the basket because they are all taller than me," said Ritschard, who is listed as 5-feet, 8-inches.
Monticello ends its season with a 20-4 overall record. The Ponies also won the Edgerton Regional and were co-conference champions with Barneveld.
"I don't think it has hit me yet that the season is over. We played as hard as we could. We played as well as we could," Ritschard said.
Barneveld (22-4) won the rights to take on the state's top-ranked team, Randolph (26-0).
"I really hope Barneveld makes it to state. I would really love to see one of our conference teams make it there," Meier said.
