Blackout declared for Tuesday's game
MONROE - Tuesday's night Monroe High School boys basketball game against Verona has been declared a black-out dress night and fans are strongly encouraged to show their support by wearing black when the Wildcats of Verona visit Monroe High School.
The MHS basketball players' parents will be hosting a fan appreciation event in the M-Room following Tuesday's game. All fans are welcome to attend this event that's being held to show gratitude for the community's support.Cookies, bars and punch will be served.
For more information, contact Reid Stangel at 325-3113.
MCFARLAND - Just in case anyone forgot, Mitch Tordoff can still make 3-pointers at will.
After a three-game hiatus from being Monroe's leading scorer, Tordoff led the way for the second straight contest. The junior point guard drilled six triples - all in the first half on 6-for-7 shooting - and finished with 20 points to pilot the Cheesemakers to a 61-42 victory at McFarland on Thursday night.
Monroe (16-0 overall, 10-0 Badger South) took a 9-6 lead after the first four minutes of the game behind three Tordoff 3-pointers. First, the junior came off a perfect baseline screen from senior Brett Stangel to hit from the right wing in front of the McFarland (4-12 overall, 1-9 Badger South) student section. Tordoff inched his way closer to the top of the key on the proceeding long-range bombs and was a perfect 3-for-3 early.
"Once you're feeling it, you just want to put up more shots," Tordoff said. "They were going in the first half and it just feels good."
McFarland junior forward Keenen Deer tried to match Tordoff in the points department, scoring the Spartans' first eight points. After Monroe's Bryan Tordoff couldn't stop a 2-on-1 Spartan break, making the score 13-10, the freshman put a damper on McFarland's hopes of sticking with the Cheesemakers.
With 12 seconds left, the Cheesemakers set up for the final shot and Stangel found the younger Tordoff at the top of the key with just a tick left. The freshman buried the triple and made the game 16-10 after eight minutes.
"Brett just gave me the ball and he has a lot of confidence in me," Bryan said. "I just pulled up and made it count."
Apparently Mitch didn't want to be outshined by his younger brother, as he hit the next three Monroe shots from the field, all from behind the arc, and pushed the Cheesemakers' lead to 25-14 with 3 minutes, 31 seconds left in the first half.
Cheesemakers head coach Pat Murphy knows that having the elder Tordoff at his disposal is something nobody else in the Badger South can boast.
"When he's feeling it he's pretty darn tough to guard," Murphy said. "There's a reason he's probably the best point guard in our league and he showed it again tonight."
Murphy was equally-impressed with his squad's knack for recognizing some new defensive looks McFarland threw their way and adjusting appropriately.
"They came out and triangle-and-two'ed us there with Mitch and Brett," Murphy said. "That's something we haven't seen all year."
Mitch Tordoff scored only two points in the second half on two fourth-quarter free throws, but was happy to hand the offensive reins to Stangel and center Tony Cates. Stangel scored nine of his 11 in the second half after a off-kilter first half shooting from the field.
Cates owned the paint with 13 points, eight coming after intermission. Cates also got into the buzzer-beating dramatics with a fall-away 10-footer from the left side to end a third quarter and make the lead 47-29.
Mitch was more than happy to pass the heating pad to his teammates in the second half because that's how the Monroe offensive system operates.
"Whoever has the open shots during the game we get the ball to them," Tordoff said.
Monroe gets the rest of the week to gear up for the Badger South-defining tilt with Verona on its home court Tuesday. If the Cheesemakers take care of the 8-1 Wildcats - like they did 65-28 on December 21 in Verona - they will be back-to-back conference champions. From the start of the season, it's been Murphy's goal to repeat in the Badger South.
"Two weeks left, that's all we're guaranteed," Murphy said. "We get a couple of days to get ready for Verona and do something that hasn't been done in over 40 years."
After a three-game hiatus from being Monroe's leading scorer, Tordoff led the way for the second straight contest. The junior point guard drilled six triples - all in the first half on 6-for-7 shooting - and finished with 20 points to pilot the Cheesemakers to a 61-42 victory at McFarland on Thursday night.
Monroe (16-0 overall, 10-0 Badger South) took a 9-6 lead after the first four minutes of the game behind three Tordoff 3-pointers. First, the junior came off a perfect baseline screen from senior Brett Stangel to hit from the right wing in front of the McFarland (4-12 overall, 1-9 Badger South) student section. Tordoff inched his way closer to the top of the key on the proceeding long-range bombs and was a perfect 3-for-3 early.
"Once you're feeling it, you just want to put up more shots," Tordoff said. "They were going in the first half and it just feels good."
McFarland junior forward Keenen Deer tried to match Tordoff in the points department, scoring the Spartans' first eight points. After Monroe's Bryan Tordoff couldn't stop a 2-on-1 Spartan break, making the score 13-10, the freshman put a damper on McFarland's hopes of sticking with the Cheesemakers.
With 12 seconds left, the Cheesemakers set up for the final shot and Stangel found the younger Tordoff at the top of the key with just a tick left. The freshman buried the triple and made the game 16-10 after eight minutes.
"Brett just gave me the ball and he has a lot of confidence in me," Bryan said. "I just pulled up and made it count."
Apparently Mitch didn't want to be outshined by his younger brother, as he hit the next three Monroe shots from the field, all from behind the arc, and pushed the Cheesemakers' lead to 25-14 with 3 minutes, 31 seconds left in the first half.
Cheesemakers head coach Pat Murphy knows that having the elder Tordoff at his disposal is something nobody else in the Badger South can boast.
"When he's feeling it he's pretty darn tough to guard," Murphy said. "There's a reason he's probably the best point guard in our league and he showed it again tonight."
Murphy was equally-impressed with his squad's knack for recognizing some new defensive looks McFarland threw their way and adjusting appropriately.
"They came out and triangle-and-two'ed us there with Mitch and Brett," Murphy said. "That's something we haven't seen all year."
Mitch Tordoff scored only two points in the second half on two fourth-quarter free throws, but was happy to hand the offensive reins to Stangel and center Tony Cates. Stangel scored nine of his 11 in the second half after a off-kilter first half shooting from the field.
Cates owned the paint with 13 points, eight coming after intermission. Cates also got into the buzzer-beating dramatics with a fall-away 10-footer from the left side to end a third quarter and make the lead 47-29.
Mitch was more than happy to pass the heating pad to his teammates in the second half because that's how the Monroe offensive system operates.
"Whoever has the open shots during the game we get the ball to them," Tordoff said.
Monroe gets the rest of the week to gear up for the Badger South-defining tilt with Verona on its home court Tuesday. If the Cheesemakers take care of the 8-1 Wildcats - like they did 65-28 on December 21 in Verona - they will be back-to-back conference champions. From the start of the season, it's been Murphy's goal to repeat in the Badger South.
"Two weeks left, that's all we're guaranteed," Murphy said. "We get a couple of days to get ready for Verona and do something that hasn't been done in over 40 years."
