The Black Hawks’ high-flyin’ fun

Bolting out to a large lead over an outmatched playoff opponent was nothing new for the Grafton High School boys’ basketball team.

The Black Hawks held an 18-point lead over Slinger last year in the playoffs before the Owls stormed back to end Grafton’s season.

Last Friday in a Division 3 playoff opener, the No. 1-seeded Hawks took a 33-16 halftime lead over No. 4-seeded Kewaskum before the Indians cut it to 39-29 with less than 15 minutes to play.

This time, there was no Cinderella comeback.

“We called that timeout and I told the guys this can’t be Slinger again,” Grafton forward and scoring, rebounding and assists leader Brock Heffner said.

Slinger it was not.

The Hawks went on a 16-5 run that made it 57-36 with eight minutes left and they cruised to a 71-56 victory.

During the run, freshman guard Michael McNabb Jr. threw a highlight-reel alley oop to 6 feet, 7-inch J.P. Benzschawel for an easy lay in.

“In the playoffs, you expect runs because everybody’s fighting for their basketball life. I was glad we withstood it,” coach Damon James said.

Benzschawel had 18 points in shooting 9-for-11 from the field and grabbed 10 rebounds, and Heffner had 17 points on 7-for-11 shooting, snagged 10 boards, had five assists and was 1-for-2 on passes of more than 20 yards. The Indians didn’t have an answer for the 6-7 towers.

“I’ve been dominating with him in the paint since fourth grade,” Heffner said of Benzschawel.

McNabb had 15 points on 6-for-7 shooting and five assists. Senior guard Tyler Tsui had eight points and senior guard Noah Bulgrin had six.

The Hawks took command slowly but steadily, building leads of 14-8 and 23-10.

Their passing game was on target, with players finding open spots without the ball, while those with the ball found them. Driving and dishing or running a give and go was commonplace in the game’s first several minutes.

“We were doing hockey assists,” Benzschawel said. “We were just quick with it.”

“I know if I drive there will be three guys coming,” Heffner said. “It’s also really satisfying for me to get my teammates open shots, and they make ’em.”

Watching his team be unselfish made James happy.

“They were sharing the ball. That was good,” he said. “When we share the ball, we’re a lot more dangerous.”

One of Heffner’s assists came on a one-armed dart with some pepper on it traveling three-fourths of the court to a streaking McNabb, who corralled the bomb and scored.

Less than a minute later, Heffner tried a similar pass to McNabb, this time overthrowing him.

Grafton High School Athletic Director Kevin Moore, no slouch in the hand-eye coordination department himself, snagged the ball before it sailed into the cafeteria and, if the doors were open at the right time, the parking lot and perhaps the former site of Kapco’s Kids2Kids Christmas Wonderland across the street.

As epic was Benzchawel’s play. He didn’t pick up his first foul until the second half with 13:17 left. He regularly picked up fouls on both ends of the court and sat for some of the first half much of the season.

The only disappointment he had was missing a slam in the second half.

“I wish I dunked that one,” he said.

Heffner had no such difficulty, slamming home a couple.

“It feels amazing. It’s great, honestly,” Heffner said of dunking.

For Kewaskum, 6-4 forward Antoine Coleman-Thull scored 17 points and guard Kyle Hoeft had 12. The Indians finished 7-16.

The win earned Grafton a home game against No. 2-seeded Brown Deer on Saturday night.