MONROE - In a game that may be a preview of a postseason tournament matchup, defending WIAA Division 2 state champion Mount Horeb rolled to a 66-49 win over the Monroe High School boys basketball team Thursday night.
Mount Horeb senior Max Meylor scored a game-high 30 points and grabbed nine rebounds to power the Vikings.
Monroe junior Carter Sawdey scored a team-high 14 points and had two steals. Senior teammate Brent Edmunds added 10 points, including two 3-pointers. Monroe juniors Alex Tordoff and Jake Kind each chipped in nine points.
Mount Horeb (9-9, 5-3 Badger North) dominated just about every aspect of the game and led by as many as 22 points in the second half. The Vikings shot 53.3 percent (24 of 45) compared to the Cheesemakers' 32.7 percent (18 of 55). The Vikings outrebounded the Cheesemakers 16-7 in the first half and had a rebounding edge of 30-25 for the game.
Monroe drops to 4-15, 1-8 Badger South.
"What really hurt us is we were not able to hit shots like we were able to knock down against Dodgeville to keep it close," Edmunds said, referring to Monroe's 84-77 loss Tuesday. "We settled for too many 3s. We were not getting the ball inside enough. We had too many one-pass 3s. We were not playing on offense like we should have."
The Vikings opened the game with an 18-9 run. The surge was sparked by 3-pointers from senior Brady Arneson and senior Trey Recknor.
Meylor scored on a reverse layup with about 7 minutes left in the first half to give the Vikings a 29-16 lead. Meylor scored 13 points in the first half and the Vikings shot a blistering 58.3 percent in the first half (14 of 24). Mount Horeb junior Jackson Rose hit a 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded to give the Vikings a 36-21 lead at the half.
Edmunds scored eight of his 10 points in the first half. The Cheesemakers could have made the game closer at the break, but went 0-for-7 from the free-throw line in the first half. Monroe senior Ben Latimer was 0-for-4 shooting in the first half and finished the game with just four points on 2 of 8 shooting.
"The stuff we had been doing well the last few games - shooting free throws and finishing - we didn't do," Monroe coach Pat Murphy said. "Some of our guys lack some confidence. You really want to rely on someone to calm your nerves out of the gate. We had a hard time
finishing some shots and layups, and we needed someone to get us going out of the gate."
Meylor drilled a 3-pointer with 13:50 left in the second half to spark the Vikings' 9-2 run that extended the lead
to 43-23. Recknor then scored on a layup to give the Vikings a 45-23 lead with 13:35 to go.
The Cheesemakers tried to dig their way back into the game after Kind knocked down a 3-pointer to cut the Vikings' lead to 51-34 with 10:05 left. Kind then scored on a putback to slice the Vikings' lead to 15 points. Sawdey scored down low and then he hit a jumper that trimmed the Vikings' lead to 60-48 with 2:39 to go. That's as close as the Cheesemakers got. Meylor scored on a layup, and the Vikings maintained their double-digit lead down the stretch.
"I think defensively we played a little bit better in the second half," Murphy said. "We played with a lot more toughness in the second half. By that time we were already down by 15. We have to play like that from the get-go."
Recknor scored 12 points, and senior Terek Nesheim added nine points and nine rebounds.
Monroe will host Stoughton on Tuesday.
"We really don't want this type of result on Senior Night on Tuesday," Murphy said.
Edmunds is looking forward to the game against Stoughton.
"It's a good opportunity to play a good opponent and start a run for the tournament, get the tempo that we need," Edmunds said. "We are going to keep going until someone tells us we are done."
Mount Horeb senior Max Meylor scored a game-high 30 points and grabbed nine rebounds to power the Vikings.
Monroe junior Carter Sawdey scored a team-high 14 points and had two steals. Senior teammate Brent Edmunds added 10 points, including two 3-pointers. Monroe juniors Alex Tordoff and Jake Kind each chipped in nine points.
Mount Horeb (9-9, 5-3 Badger North) dominated just about every aspect of the game and led by as many as 22 points in the second half. The Vikings shot 53.3 percent (24 of 45) compared to the Cheesemakers' 32.7 percent (18 of 55). The Vikings outrebounded the Cheesemakers 16-7 in the first half and had a rebounding edge of 30-25 for the game.
Monroe drops to 4-15, 1-8 Badger South.
"What really hurt us is we were not able to hit shots like we were able to knock down against Dodgeville to keep it close," Edmunds said, referring to Monroe's 84-77 loss Tuesday. "We settled for too many 3s. We were not getting the ball inside enough. We had too many one-pass 3s. We were not playing on offense like we should have."
The Vikings opened the game with an 18-9 run. The surge was sparked by 3-pointers from senior Brady Arneson and senior Trey Recknor.
Meylor scored on a reverse layup with about 7 minutes left in the first half to give the Vikings a 29-16 lead. Meylor scored 13 points in the first half and the Vikings shot a blistering 58.3 percent in the first half (14 of 24). Mount Horeb junior Jackson Rose hit a 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded to give the Vikings a 36-21 lead at the half.
Edmunds scored eight of his 10 points in the first half. The Cheesemakers could have made the game closer at the break, but went 0-for-7 from the free-throw line in the first half. Monroe senior Ben Latimer was 0-for-4 shooting in the first half and finished the game with just four points on 2 of 8 shooting.
"The stuff we had been doing well the last few games - shooting free throws and finishing - we didn't do," Monroe coach Pat Murphy said. "Some of our guys lack some confidence. You really want to rely on someone to calm your nerves out of the gate. We had a hard time
finishing some shots and layups, and we needed someone to get us going out of the gate."
Meylor drilled a 3-pointer with 13:50 left in the second half to spark the Vikings' 9-2 run that extended the lead
to 43-23. Recknor then scored on a layup to give the Vikings a 45-23 lead with 13:35 to go.
The Cheesemakers tried to dig their way back into the game after Kind knocked down a 3-pointer to cut the Vikings' lead to 51-34 with 10:05 left. Kind then scored on a putback to slice the Vikings' lead to 15 points. Sawdey scored down low and then he hit a jumper that trimmed the Vikings' lead to 60-48 with 2:39 to go. That's as close as the Cheesemakers got. Meylor scored on a layup, and the Vikings maintained their double-digit lead down the stretch.
"I think defensively we played a little bit better in the second half," Murphy said. "We played with a lot more toughness in the second half. By that time we were already down by 15. We have to play like that from the get-go."
Recknor scored 12 points, and senior Terek Nesheim added nine points and nine rebounds.
Monroe will host Stoughton on Tuesday.
"We really don't want this type of result on Senior Night on Tuesday," Murphy said.
Edmunds is looking forward to the game against Stoughton.
"It's a good opportunity to play a good opponent and start a run for the tournament, get the tempo that we need," Edmunds said. "We are going to keep going until someone tells us we are done."
