GREEN BAY – The senior knew this could be the last game of her high school career had she not played well.
So, Cassidy Trotter came into Friday afternoon with one thing in mind: Play her best.
And she did, leading the way with 23 points, seven rebounds, and four steals to help the Beaver Dam prep girls basketball team beat Monroe 62-47 for a second time this season and advance to the WIAA Division 2 state championship game against Cudahy at 6:35 p.m. today.
“We can go on and on about her,” said BD senior Kara Crowley, who added eight points and six rebounds. “She is just an amazing player. She is always looking to find the open player and when she has a drive, we want her to do that because if she’s scoring, why would we not want her to score?”
But why could she score so easily?
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“I knew I had a good match-up tonight,” Trotter said. “I could get to the rim pretty easily. My teammates saw that and they were getting me the ball, so that really helped.”
The first time BD played Monroe this season, Trotter had Sydney Hilliard, a quick 5-foot-9 guard, defending her and said Hilliard “was harder to get around.”
But in this game, Trotter noticed Hilliard’s sister Lexi, a 5-6 guard who’s more physical and not quite as quick as Sydney, was the one defending her.
“I could get a quick first step on her more easily,” Trotter said. “I took advantage of that.”
She sure did as Trotter scored 13 of her 23 points in the first half, helping the Golden Beavers (27-0) to a 34-24 halftime lead over the Cheesemakers (21-4).
But it was Tara Stauffacher’s triple with 2 minutes, 30 seconds left that gave BD a 30-24 advantage and started a 7-0 run to help BD end the first half with a 10-point lead.
“I just took the open shot,” Stauffacher said. “My teammates do a really, really good job at finding me. If I’m open, I’m going to shoot it.”
So, you would think the Beavers would be confident going into halftime.
“Coach Chase tells us every time the most overrated thing is a halftime score,” Crowley said. “In our minds it was a confidence booster, but not in coach Chase’s.”
Stauffacher finished with eight points and four rebounds while Crowley had eight points and six rebounds.
The Beavers didn’t have trouble playing their up-tempo game, but they also were often times far more methodical than normal.
Although, when the Beavers saw an opening, they took advantage of it.
“From what we’ve seen and based on the number of points they’ve scored, they want to play at a fast pace and they want to get the ball up and down,” Monroe head coach Sam Mathiason said. “(But) it seems like they were trying to control us to get the match-ups and get that floor space so they could get some drives.
“I think they looked like they were just trying to be able to control that ball.”
The Beavers controlled the ball and did a fine job of guarding some of the Cheesemakers’ top scorers. Sydney Hilliard led the team with 16 points, while Jordan Hirsbrunner and Sydney Mathiason both chipped in with 10 apiece.
“Monroe has two super sophomores (Sydney Hilliard and Emily Benzschawel),” Chase said. “Sydney Mathiason is an outstanding player as a junior. They all have strengths in their game offensively and if you look at their box scores in regionals and sectionals, all three of them played outstanding.”
Yes, that’s true. But what hurt the Cheesemakers the most was when Benzschawel fouled out with only five points with 1:34 left in the game and Monroe down by 10 at 57-47.
“When you lose a scoring threat like her, it kind of (allows) Beaver Dam to load up on a couple others a little bit differently,” Sam Mathiason said. “Emily is one of our key scorers and has that ability to get a lot of those opportunities for us. Anytime you have that, you know it’s going to affect the game.”
Not to mention, Sydney Mathiason fouled out 15 seconds prior, so the Cheesemakers lost a lot of scoring in crunch time. Benzschawel was the second leading scorer averaging 12.4 points per game and Sydney Mathiason entered the game averaging 11.3, which was third on the team.
It’s no coincidence Monroe didn’t score after those two fouled out.
Once that happened, BD just had to run out the clock and get it’s chance to play Saturday for a championship.
“This is our ultimate goal, was to get to the game (Saturday),” Trotter said. “It feels really good to do that finally.”
But do you and the rest of the Beavers feel any pressure?
“We’ve been playing basketball all summer,” Trotter said. “We’ve put in the work. We have the confidence and we’re just going to treat it like it’s just another basketball game.
“We’re just going to do what we do like we do every game.”
Stauffacher agreed.
“Everything we’ve done this week – and weeks leading up to this – we’re prepared for this moment, “ she said, “and it shouldn’t be different than any other game.”
BEAVER DAM 62, MONROE 47
Monroe 24 23 - 47
Beaver Dam 34 28 - 62
MONROE (47) – Jordan Hirsbrunner 10, Sydney Mathiason 10, Emily Benzschawel 5, Sydney Hilliard 16, Rachel Meier 4, Madison Katzenberger 2. Totals (FGs FTM-FTA PTs): 21 6-9 47.
BEAVER DAM (62) – Cassidy Trotter 23, Kara Crowley 8, Tara Stauffacher 8, Afton Bartol 2, Paige Schumann 7, Jada Donaldson 4, Alexa Brooks 3, Maryn Ferron 3, Aly Van Loo 4. Totals (FGs FTM-FTA PTs): 26 16-25 62
3-pointers: M 1 (Emily Benzschawel), BD 6 (Tara Stauffacher 2, Cassidy Trotter 1, Paige Schumann 1, Alexa Brooks 1, Maryn Ferron 1). Total fouls: M 19, BD 12. Fouled out: M – Emily Benzschawel.
