Monroe (20-4), which had never had more than 18 wins in a season before this year, advances to face top-seeded Kettering Alter — the two-time defending state champion — in a sectional final at 6 p.m. on Thursday at Lebanon.
“We knew it was going to be a dogfight because the first two games with them were right down to the wire,” Monroe coach Chad Allen said. “They play extremely hard, they have good players, good coaching, and I think we have all those things on our side, so we knew it would be a battle to the end. It couldn’t have been more fitting to go to overtime with them. We just had a couple girls step up, and team defense really stepped up there at the end of the game.”
The game was either tied or had a one-point separation at the end of each quarter in regulation, but Monroe sophomore Sophie Sloneker hit a quick layup to open scoring in overtime, and the Hornets maintained a lead the rest of the way.
She and twin sister Katie Sloneker accounted for all nine of Monroe’s overtime points, with Katie sealing the game at the free-throw line with 6.8 seconds when she made two free throws in a one-and-one situation.
“We drew up this play at the beginning of overtime, and once we hit that shot, it just set the tone,” Katie Sloneker said. “We knew we had it then. This 20th win was really big for us.”
The Spartans (14-10) missed a layup with 35 seconds left, but cut a 43-40 deficit to one with Megan Cotterman’s short jump shot with 11.7 seconds remaining and were forced to foul after that. They took the last shot but couldn’t get a 3 to fall, something they normally could count on Hunter Stidham for.
Valley View had played the final seven minutes without their leading scorer after Stidham left late in the fourth quarter after tweaking her shoulder following a 3-pointer that gave her 15 points for the night.
“How about frustration?” Valley View coach Steve Dickson said. “We missed a late layup, and Hunter (Stidham) went out in the fourth quarter with a sore shoulder — she hurt it against CJ, so she battled through some pain and still got 15 points today, but when she went out that hurt us. I take nothing away from them, though. They did what they needed to win. I’m proud of the effort. It was just frustrating.”
Earlier in the game, Monroe had to work through some struggles from their leading scorer, Katie Sloneker, who had just one of her game-high 17 points in the first half while going 1 of 4 at the free-throw line and seeing several inside shots rolling in and out.
The Hornets still managed to head into halftime down just 17-16, and Katie finally began to heat up late in the third quarter, scoring 11 straight points for her team to put Monroe ahead 34-28 early in the fourth period. Her personal run followed Jahsalyn Robinson’s pair of 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions, which gave her 12 points for the night.
“She has the ability to take over the game,” Allen said of Katie Sloneker. “There’s a reason she’s one of the best players in the area and she showed it tonight, where she was facilitating the first half. She had four or five shots go in and out in the first half, she just wasn’t on and they had good defense on her, but she just took over for a period of time and said, ‘I’m not letting us lose.’ ”
Valley View 7-10-11-8-6—42
Monroe 7-9-13-7-9—45
VALLEY VIEW (14-10): Abigail Black 4 2 10, Chloe Smith 2 0 4, Kara Velte 3 0 6, Megan Cotterman 3 1 7, Hunter Stidham 4 5 15. Totals: 16-8-42
MONROE (20-4): Kylee Slone 1 0 3, Sophie Sloneker 3 2 8, Jahsalyn Robinson 4 2 12, Maddy Wehry 2 0 4, Erica Thompson 0 1 1, Katie Sloneker 4 8 17. Totals: 16-13-45
3-pointers: V 2 (Stidham 2), M 4 (Robinson 2, Slone, K. Sloneker)
About the Author