Oh, to be young. Bryan Tordoff, you have oh so much to be excited about. So many milestones that you'll inevitably achieve.
No one understands more thoroughly the sting of Friday's season-ending 53-49 loss to New Berlin Eisenhower at the Kohl Center than the "Stinger" himself, Monroe senior Brett Stangel.
But what last year's tournament MVP has achieved during his four-year prep career just may be trumped by the phenomenal freshman before all's said and done.
Whereas Stangel put up several well-covered 3-point heaves that rang off the iron coldly down the stretch Friday, frantically trying to be the hero in consecutive years, the diaper dandy known as Tordoff delivered the mere possibility for dramatics.
"That's what our team has done all year is when people are down, other people step up," Stangel said. "It's just too bad we couldn't make some more plays."
Just one minute after his big brother, junior Mitch, got Monroe within five with a deep ball from the right wing, Bryan answered consecutive Lions 2s with a flurry to chop a 42-33 deficit to just three midway through the decisive quarter.
He first elevated (This is not just verbage. Elevation is the only term to describe Tordoff's hops.) to swish a triple from the left corner just before head coach Pat Murphy took a Cheesemaker timeout with 4:18 to play.
After the Lions quickly went one and done, Mitch found his brother, somehow left unmarked, in the right corner, where he forced the opposition to burn a timeout of their own and think things over just 19 seconds after the first trifecta.
Needless to say, Lions coach Dave Scheidegger was as impressed as everyone else in attendance.
"He stepped up big time (as) a freshmen. Wow, very nice," Scheidegger said with a shake of his head. "After he hit the two threes, we said 'Well, I think we've got to cover that guy.'"
To say the least, Tordoff didn't see the ball much down the stretch, as Lions swarmed in his direction even outside their assignment.
The scary thing is that the "coming out of nowhere" phase is over. WSN Illustrated recently let the poorly-kept secret out that Tordoff is a high-riser when it named him one of the state's best sixth men.
Stangel will need some time to heal, but he can take solace in not only last year's title, but also having been one of the reasons why Tordoff wasted no time emerging. The upstart underclassmen is quick to credit his senior teammate as the best he could ask for in his first varsity campaign.
Better yet, next year he'll have another senior to start alongside, his brother Mitch, with whom he shares that extra-sensory connection on and off the floor.
Much to Monroe boys track coach Dave Hirsbrunner's shagrin, this kid is the real deal and treats his talent accordingly. Because of this, he'll likely focus on playing AAU hoops this spring instead of running for the Cheesemakers after rewriting the record book during his seventh-grade season of track.
And there's the key. Here's a young man with limitless potential. But, much the way he sees the hardwood floor, so clearly he sees the path to his future. To the delight of hoops fans, he's exclusively buying high-tops, not cross-trainers.
No one understands more thoroughly the sting of Friday's season-ending 53-49 loss to New Berlin Eisenhower at the Kohl Center than the "Stinger" himself, Monroe senior Brett Stangel.
But what last year's tournament MVP has achieved during his four-year prep career just may be trumped by the phenomenal freshman before all's said and done.
Whereas Stangel put up several well-covered 3-point heaves that rang off the iron coldly down the stretch Friday, frantically trying to be the hero in consecutive years, the diaper dandy known as Tordoff delivered the mere possibility for dramatics.
"That's what our team has done all year is when people are down, other people step up," Stangel said. "It's just too bad we couldn't make some more plays."
Just one minute after his big brother, junior Mitch, got Monroe within five with a deep ball from the right wing, Bryan answered consecutive Lions 2s with a flurry to chop a 42-33 deficit to just three midway through the decisive quarter.
He first elevated (This is not just verbage. Elevation is the only term to describe Tordoff's hops.) to swish a triple from the left corner just before head coach Pat Murphy took a Cheesemaker timeout with 4:18 to play.
After the Lions quickly went one and done, Mitch found his brother, somehow left unmarked, in the right corner, where he forced the opposition to burn a timeout of their own and think things over just 19 seconds after the first trifecta.
Needless to say, Lions coach Dave Scheidegger was as impressed as everyone else in attendance.
"He stepped up big time (as) a freshmen. Wow, very nice," Scheidegger said with a shake of his head. "After he hit the two threes, we said 'Well, I think we've got to cover that guy.'"
To say the least, Tordoff didn't see the ball much down the stretch, as Lions swarmed in his direction even outside their assignment.
The scary thing is that the "coming out of nowhere" phase is over. WSN Illustrated recently let the poorly-kept secret out that Tordoff is a high-riser when it named him one of the state's best sixth men.
Stangel will need some time to heal, but he can take solace in not only last year's title, but also having been one of the reasons why Tordoff wasted no time emerging. The upstart underclassmen is quick to credit his senior teammate as the best he could ask for in his first varsity campaign.
Better yet, next year he'll have another senior to start alongside, his brother Mitch, with whom he shares that extra-sensory connection on and off the floor.
Much to Monroe boys track coach Dave Hirsbrunner's shagrin, this kid is the real deal and treats his talent accordingly. Because of this, he'll likely focus on playing AAU hoops this spring instead of running for the Cheesemakers after rewriting the record book during his seventh-grade season of track.
And there's the key. Here's a young man with limitless potential. But, much the way he sees the hardwood floor, so clearly he sees the path to his future. To the delight of hoops fans, he's exclusively buying high-tops, not cross-trainers.
