Pressure defense helps Monroe beat Cascade

By Bob Mortenson

Herald Writer

MONROE – Talk about your last-minute shopping sprees.

The Monroe Bearcats went looking for just the thing to wear down the relentless Cascade Bruins and found gifts aplenty to key a 59-49 Western Conference North Division victory Friday night.

Bearcat guard Chelsey Zimmerman, a sophomore, scored 13 points and had five assists to lead the Bearcat attack.

Trailing 32-31, Zimmerman stole the ball at midcourt and scored on a layin to start a 6-0 streak that gave Monroe a 37-32 cushion with 2:05 remaining in the third quarter. The margin stretched to 45-36 when Zimmerman hit a 3-point goal with 6:20 left to play.

“She’s a little John Stockton out there,” Monroe coach Alan Dickson said.

Even the best efforts of Cascade’s Alyssa Smoke, who scored 19 of her 21 points in the second half couldn’t overcome the Bearcats’ balanced attack.

Monroe’s Karissa Barnes and Kaycee Kolrud controlled the boards and came up with 11 rebounds each. They also combined for 18 points. Kaylee Kolrud added eight points.

“Our kids boxed out well tonight,” Dickson said. “And we worked on free throws for about an hour yesterday and it sure paid off.”

Indeed it did. Monroe (4-1 in league, 5-4 overall) hit its first 13 free throws and wound up making 16 of 19 for the game. Cascade (1-3, 3-3) had plenty of opportunities, but settled for 17 of 28.

Zimmerman and backcourt mate Monica Bunge, a freshman who also had five assists and eight points, overcame the Bruin press to set up lots of good shot opportunities.

“Our goal is to push the ball up the floor,” Dickson said. “Most teams can’t press us.”

For all that, Monroe’s ability to pressure the ball at the other end was pivotal.

“Our defense was really good tonight,” senior captain Kaylee Kolrud said. “We talked it up a lot.”

There were seveal lead exchanges before Cascade took its final advantage when Megan Lienhard banked in a tough shot in traffic to give the Bruins a 32-31 lead.