MILTON - The Monroe boys basketball team is starting to get into its groove - especially standout Mitch Tordoff. The senior guard hit from all around the court, dropping 35 points on Milton in Monroe's 68-46 win Saturday night.
Mitch Tordoff, and brother Bryan (14 points), started the night hot for Monroe. They scored the Cheesemakers' first 11 points as Monroe sprung out to an 11-2 lead.
"I went inside my first few shots to get my confidence up and just went from there," Mitch said.
Milton senior forward Mason Walters made a big difference in the paint. Standing 6 feet, 7 inches with the body of a defensive end, Walters pounded the ball down low on his way to a 23-point game.
"We were trying to rotate down on Waters with triple teams," Monroe head coach Pat Murphy said. "But he's a good player and a good passer. So when we put guys on him, he would feed the ball outside to the open guys."
By the end of the first quarter, Monroe led 19-10. Mitch Tordoff had 11 points and Bryan had 8 in the period.
In the second quarter, Milton tied the score at 24-24 with time running down in the half. Mitch Tordoff nailed a 3-pointer to extend the lead to 27-24. With just 57 seconds left, Milton's Sam McCann hit a pair of free throws to bring the difference back to a point.
But Cheesemaker senior Mitch McArdle finished off a drive through the lane with 1.7 seconds left in the half to spark Monroe at the break.
Mitch Tordoff finished the half with 17 points and Walters had 14 for Milton.
"I think if you ask Mitch, he'll probably tell you that he left a lot of points on the floor for as wide open as he was. He had been dogged hard the first two games (against Elkhorn and Madison Edgewood)," Murphy said. "But nobody works harder than he does. He shoots extra before practice even starts."
Monroe started to break away in the second half. Led by Mitch Tordoff's 13 points in the quarter, Monroe tightened its defense and created breakaway buckets in bundles. Cullen Sampson, Michael Barrett and Jake Grinnell stole the ball numerous times on defense, then found each other for easy transition baskets. Grinnell finished with 10 points, all in the second half.
At the end of the third quarter, Monroe led 51-33.
In the fourth, Monroe's offense slowed the pace.
Milton got no closer than 13 points before Monroe finished off the game from the free throw line. In the game, the Cheesemakers shot 13-of-15 from the charity stripe. Milton was a perfect 12-for-12.
"I thought we played our best in the first and fourth quarters," Murphy said. "We played our best defense in the fourth."
In the second half, Monroe shot 50 percent from the field (13-of-26).
"Shooting that well means that we were able to spread the ball around and get some good shots," Mitch Tordoff said. "I was fortunate to get the ball as many times as I did. If anybody else had the hot hand, I think our team would be respectful enough to get them the ball. I just happened to be the one hot tonight."
The senior shot 7-for-12 from beyond the arc and pulled down a team-high 7 rebounds on defense - which is a high number for any guard.
"I will have to look back in the books, but very rarely have we had anybody score in the high 20s," Murphy said of his tenure at the school. "He's going to get his share of attention, but he was left wide open and the guys fed him the ball tonight."
The coaching staff liked what they saw against a quality opponent - with Milton new to the Badger South the teams will see each other twice a year.
"Milton has had good teams in the past and coach (Brian) Hammil has been around for 15 years. They handled their first two opponents pretty easily, so it should give our guys a lot of confidence," Murphy said.
"We always talk to our guys that in our conference, if you win all your games at home and half of your games on the road, there's a good chance that you will be competing for a conference title. We got a road win tonight and now we just have to grab one at home this week and we should be looking good."
The Cheesemakers (2-1, 2-0 Badger South) will host Oregon (1-2, 1-0) Tuesday night.
Mitch Tordoff, and brother Bryan (14 points), started the night hot for Monroe. They scored the Cheesemakers' first 11 points as Monroe sprung out to an 11-2 lead.
"I went inside my first few shots to get my confidence up and just went from there," Mitch said.
Milton senior forward Mason Walters made a big difference in the paint. Standing 6 feet, 7 inches with the body of a defensive end, Walters pounded the ball down low on his way to a 23-point game.
"We were trying to rotate down on Waters with triple teams," Monroe head coach Pat Murphy said. "But he's a good player and a good passer. So when we put guys on him, he would feed the ball outside to the open guys."
By the end of the first quarter, Monroe led 19-10. Mitch Tordoff had 11 points and Bryan had 8 in the period.
In the second quarter, Milton tied the score at 24-24 with time running down in the half. Mitch Tordoff nailed a 3-pointer to extend the lead to 27-24. With just 57 seconds left, Milton's Sam McCann hit a pair of free throws to bring the difference back to a point.
But Cheesemaker senior Mitch McArdle finished off a drive through the lane with 1.7 seconds left in the half to spark Monroe at the break.
Mitch Tordoff finished the half with 17 points and Walters had 14 for Milton.
"I think if you ask Mitch, he'll probably tell you that he left a lot of points on the floor for as wide open as he was. He had been dogged hard the first two games (against Elkhorn and Madison Edgewood)," Murphy said. "But nobody works harder than he does. He shoots extra before practice even starts."
Monroe started to break away in the second half. Led by Mitch Tordoff's 13 points in the quarter, Monroe tightened its defense and created breakaway buckets in bundles. Cullen Sampson, Michael Barrett and Jake Grinnell stole the ball numerous times on defense, then found each other for easy transition baskets. Grinnell finished with 10 points, all in the second half.
At the end of the third quarter, Monroe led 51-33.
In the fourth, Monroe's offense slowed the pace.
Milton got no closer than 13 points before Monroe finished off the game from the free throw line. In the game, the Cheesemakers shot 13-of-15 from the charity stripe. Milton was a perfect 12-for-12.
"I thought we played our best in the first and fourth quarters," Murphy said. "We played our best defense in the fourth."
In the second half, Monroe shot 50 percent from the field (13-of-26).
"Shooting that well means that we were able to spread the ball around and get some good shots," Mitch Tordoff said. "I was fortunate to get the ball as many times as I did. If anybody else had the hot hand, I think our team would be respectful enough to get them the ball. I just happened to be the one hot tonight."
The senior shot 7-for-12 from beyond the arc and pulled down a team-high 7 rebounds on defense - which is a high number for any guard.
"I will have to look back in the books, but very rarely have we had anybody score in the high 20s," Murphy said of his tenure at the school. "He's going to get his share of attention, but he was left wide open and the guys fed him the ball tonight."
The coaching staff liked what they saw against a quality opponent - with Milton new to the Badger South the teams will see each other twice a year.
"Milton has had good teams in the past and coach (Brian) Hammil has been around for 15 years. They handled their first two opponents pretty easily, so it should give our guys a lot of confidence," Murphy said.
"We always talk to our guys that in our conference, if you win all your games at home and half of your games on the road, there's a good chance that you will be competing for a conference title. We got a road win tonight and now we just have to grab one at home this week and we should be looking good."
The Cheesemakers (2-1, 2-0 Badger South) will host Oregon (1-2, 1-0) Tuesday night.
