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Monroe's shooting takes down Edgerton

VERONA — All Edgerton could do was sit back and watch in amazement.

Monroe High School’s boys basketball team put on a shooting clinic Saturday afternoon and rolled past the Crimson Tide, 66-37, to win a WIAA Division 2 regional title amd gain sectional berth.

The Cheesemakers (17-6) face Wisconsin Dells (19-4) at 7 p.m. Thursday at Waunakee in the semifinals of the Sun Prairie Sectional. The Chiefs (19-4) defeated ninth-ranked River Valley, 59-56, to win the Baraboo Regional.

Mitch Tordoff and his Monroe teammates made eight of 10 three-pointers and 23 of 34 shots overall (68 percent) to keep alive their quest of making a third straight trip to the state tournament and fourth in the last five years.

“Those guys just shot the ball extremely well,” Edgerton coach Mark Wanless said. “We had guys out on them, but they made their shots.’’

After the Cheesemakers trailed 5-2, Tordoff kick-started Monroe’s day with two three-pointers and 12 of his game-high 25 points in the first quarter. That spearheaded the Badger South champions to a 19-7 advantage, capped by Tordoff’s leaning jumper at the buzzer.

Monroe made eight of its first 11 shots and three of its four three-point. On the other end, 5-foot-9 Mitch McArdle closely guarded Edgerton leading scorer and 6-4 center Bryan Gregory, along with plenty of help, to hold Gregory to six points.

“Our defense set the tone, and then when Mitch is shooting like that, other guys are a little more at ease,” Monroe coach Pat Murphy said.

“McArdle has been guarding big guys all year. We sagged off on the other kids.

“Gregory has been in double figures in every game but one, I think. So (to hold him under 10), we are really proud of that. We just wanted to make other players try and make plays.”

After their team fell behind 29-11, Daniel Ozga and Brek Perry hit back-to-back three- pointers to pull Edgerton within 29-17. McArdle drained a three-pointer from the wing to end the run, and Monroe used a 14-5 third-quarter surge to seal the victory.

McArdle finished with 15 points, including three three-pointers. Ozga led the Crimson Tide (16-7) with 12 points, which included two fourth-quarter three-pointers.

“They made big shots and kept up their intensity,” said Gregory, who finished his magnificent four-year varsity career with exactly 1,500 points, including 486 this season. “They were doing a good job on defense. They had some backside help and took some stuff away from us.

“We thought we’d have an advantage in the post, but they played well down there.”

And, of course, the Cheesemakers’ overall shooting was something else.

MONROE 66, EDGERTON 37

Edgerton (37)—Ozga, 4-0-12; Eastman, 1-2-5; Perry, 2-3-8; Palet, 1-0-2; B. Gregory, 2-2-6; A. Gregory, 1-0-2; Dobratz, 1-0-2. Totals: 12-7-37.

Monroe (66) —Tordoff, 9-3-25; McArdle, 5-2-15; Barrett, 3-0-6; Grinnell 1-1-4; B. Tordoff, 1-0-2; Frint, 1-5-7; Rast 1-0-2; Buol, 1-0-2; Klinzing, 1-0-2; Turek, 0-1-1. Totals: 23-12-66.

Edgerton 7 13 5 12—37

Monroe 19 15 14 18—66

Three-point goals—Edgerton 6 (Ozga 4, Perry, Eastman), Monroe 8 (Tordoff 4, McArdle 3, Grinnell) Free throws missed—Edgerton 2, Monroe 4. Total fouls—Edgerton 14, Monroe 14.