MONROE - The dream became a reality.
Monroe sophomore Sydney Hilliard envisioned having the girls basketball team etched into a permanent board as a conference champion in the gym at Monroe High School. Hilliard scored a team-high 21 points, grabbed nine rebounds and had eight steals to power the Cheesemakers to a 65-37 win over Monona Grove Thursday that clinched at least a share of the Badger South Conference championship.
"It will be exciting seeing it up on the board - 2017," Hilliard said of the conference title. "We stepped it up and stepped on the pedal in the second half."
Monroe (16-2, 10-1 Badger South), ranked seventh in the Associated Press Division 2 state poll, blew the game open with a dominating 20-2 second-half run. The run on Senior Night was ignited by a flurry of steals from Hilliard and sophomore Emily Benzschawel. The surge started when Hilliard drilled a 3-pointer and concluded when Benzschawel came up with a steal and scored on a layup to give the Cheesemakers' a 61-33 lead.
"It all started with our defense," Hilliard said. "Everyone on our team is athletic. Everyone has the ability to finish at the rim."
Benzschawel added 17 points and grabbed eight rebounds. She was delighted with the win and celebrated with teammates afterward.
"It feels wonderful," Benzschawel said. "We have been working for this the whole season. We just came out with a lot of energy and that got us up."
If the Cheesemakers can beat Edgewood in Madison next Thursday in their final conference game they would win the Badger South outright.
"It's important to us to have it all ours instead of sharing with Stoughton," Benzschawel said.
Monona Grove sophomore McKenna Warnock, who like Hilliard has scholarship offers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Marquette, struggled shooting. Hilliard guarded Warnock and limited her to 5 of 23 shooting from the field. Warnock scored a game-high 22 points but did most of her damage at the free-throw line where she was 11 of 12.
"I knew before the game I would be on her," Hilliard said of guarding Warnock. "I had to get in front of her because she's tough to stop when she gets going."
Monroe coach Sam Mathiason commended his players on their defensive work. He understands it takes a team effort.
"McKenna is one of the top basketball players in the state," Mathiason said. "For her to only have five field goals, I thought we did a really good job of guarding her. Sydney, Jordan and Sydney Mathiason did a good job guarding her late. Getting the help on defense makes a difference. I thought the other kids did a really good job of shading her. It was good team defense. She wasn't comfortable for those shots."
Mathiason finished with 11 points and two blocked shots, and Hirsbrunner chipped in eight points.
Early on, the game had the makings of being one that could go down to the wire. The Cheesemakers jumped out to a 10-2 lead behind a pair of steals and layups from Hilliard. The run culminated in Benzschawel hitting a jumper in the lane.
The Silver Eagles didn't go away. Monona Grove answered with a 15-8 run and cut the Cheesemakers' lead to three points at the half, 20-17. Despite Warnock shooting just 2 of 15 in the first half, the Silver Eagles were within striking distance in part due to a 24-20 rebounding edge.
It didn't take the Cheesemakers long to hit their stride in the second half. Hirsbrunner scored on a layup down low and Benzschawel came up with a steal and scored on a layup to give the Cheesemakers a 24-17 lead. Monroe junior Sydney Mathiason knocked down a jumper and hit a 3-pointer with 16:01 left to extend the Cheesemakers' lead to 29-19. The Cheesemakers maintained a double-digit lead for most of the second half.
"We were able to get a lot of deflections, steals and run outs, and we got that momentum," Mathiason said.
It was just one day before, Mathiason said, that he had players look up to the conference championships displayed in practice.
"For the seniors were able to go out like that (conference champions) is really sweet for this group of girls," Mathiason said. "I'm just really proud of the girls. We had to take advantage of our opportunities because you never know."
Monroe sophomore Sydney Hilliard envisioned having the girls basketball team etched into a permanent board as a conference champion in the gym at Monroe High School. Hilliard scored a team-high 21 points, grabbed nine rebounds and had eight steals to power the Cheesemakers to a 65-37 win over Monona Grove Thursday that clinched at least a share of the Badger South Conference championship.
"It will be exciting seeing it up on the board - 2017," Hilliard said of the conference title. "We stepped it up and stepped on the pedal in the second half."
Monroe (16-2, 10-1 Badger South), ranked seventh in the Associated Press Division 2 state poll, blew the game open with a dominating 20-2 second-half run. The run on Senior Night was ignited by a flurry of steals from Hilliard and sophomore Emily Benzschawel. The surge started when Hilliard drilled a 3-pointer and concluded when Benzschawel came up with a steal and scored on a layup to give the Cheesemakers' a 61-33 lead.
"It all started with our defense," Hilliard said. "Everyone on our team is athletic. Everyone has the ability to finish at the rim."
Benzschawel added 17 points and grabbed eight rebounds. She was delighted with the win and celebrated with teammates afterward.
"It feels wonderful," Benzschawel said. "We have been working for this the whole season. We just came out with a lot of energy and that got us up."
If the Cheesemakers can beat Edgewood in Madison next Thursday in their final conference game they would win the Badger South outright.
"It's important to us to have it all ours instead of sharing with Stoughton," Benzschawel said.
Monona Grove sophomore McKenna Warnock, who like Hilliard has scholarship offers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Marquette, struggled shooting. Hilliard guarded Warnock and limited her to 5 of 23 shooting from the field. Warnock scored a game-high 22 points but did most of her damage at the free-throw line where she was 11 of 12.
"I knew before the game I would be on her," Hilliard said of guarding Warnock. "I had to get in front of her because she's tough to stop when she gets going."
Monroe coach Sam Mathiason commended his players on their defensive work. He understands it takes a team effort.
"McKenna is one of the top basketball players in the state," Mathiason said. "For her to only have five field goals, I thought we did a really good job of guarding her. Sydney, Jordan and Sydney Mathiason did a good job guarding her late. Getting the help on defense makes a difference. I thought the other kids did a really good job of shading her. It was good team defense. She wasn't comfortable for those shots."
Mathiason finished with 11 points and two blocked shots, and Hirsbrunner chipped in eight points.
Early on, the game had the makings of being one that could go down to the wire. The Cheesemakers jumped out to a 10-2 lead behind a pair of steals and layups from Hilliard. The run culminated in Benzschawel hitting a jumper in the lane.
The Silver Eagles didn't go away. Monona Grove answered with a 15-8 run and cut the Cheesemakers' lead to three points at the half, 20-17. Despite Warnock shooting just 2 of 15 in the first half, the Silver Eagles were within striking distance in part due to a 24-20 rebounding edge.
It didn't take the Cheesemakers long to hit their stride in the second half. Hirsbrunner scored on a layup down low and Benzschawel came up with a steal and scored on a layup to give the Cheesemakers a 24-17 lead. Monroe junior Sydney Mathiason knocked down a jumper and hit a 3-pointer with 16:01 left to extend the Cheesemakers' lead to 29-19. The Cheesemakers maintained a double-digit lead for most of the second half.
"We were able to get a lot of deflections, steals and run outs, and we got that momentum," Mathiason said.
It was just one day before, Mathiason said, that he had players look up to the conference championships displayed in practice.
"For the seniors were able to go out like that (conference champions) is really sweet for this group of girls," Mathiason said. "I'm just really proud of the girls. We had to take advantage of our opportunities because you never know."
