Comeback not quite enough

Last Friday’s home playoff game wasn’t indicative of the changed culture for the Grafton High School boys’ basketball program.

The No. 4-seeded Black Hawks had their season end in a 70-63 loss to No. 5-seeded Milwaukee Madison in a Division 2 semifinal, despite a game-high 29 points from junior guard Alex Huibregtse.

“Definitely tough, especially being at home having some momentum. I give my hat off to Milwaukee Madison. They earned it,” coach Damon James said.

The Hawks, playing their first game in eight days, came out with cold shooting and fell behind, 29-24, at halftime.

Things got worse in the second half as the Hawks made some uncharacteristic errors and got down by as many as 21. But they never gave up.

“They never wilted when they could have,” James said. “We woke up.”

With 2 minutes, 38 seconds left, the Hawks cut the lead to 62-60. Huibregtse, the team’s leading scorer, fouled out and the Knights hit both free throws to take a four-point lead.

Sophomore guard Tyler Tsui stepped up with a huge three-pointer from the left corner to cut the lead to 64-63.

With 54 seconds left, sophomore Bryson Clague had a look at a three from the right wing but the shot didn’t go down, and the Hawks had to foul. The Knights were able to hang on.

“We can’t go down by 20 and use all that energy to get back in it,” James said.

Tsui finished with 12 points, and Clague had 10 as the Hawks, much like for most of the season, spread the scoring load across a few players.

Sophomore inside force J.P. Benzschawel had six points in his first playoff game.

James said the Hawks let the Knights shoot too many free throws – they went 15-for- 22 to the Grafton’s 4-for-9.

“On our home court we just can’t let teams shoot 22 free throws,” he said.

The Hawks had 10 turnovers, only a couple of more than their season average, but James said they came at “some not-so opportune times.”

Knight guard Brandon Leach Jr. scored 21. Tonnie Gregory had 17 and Kyran Gaines had 16.

Milwaukee Madison went on to lose to nationally ranked and No. 1-seeded Nicolet on Saturday, 67-55.

The Hawks finished the season at 14-9 overall, 11-7 and in fourth place in the North Shore Conference, one year after tying Port Washington for last place in the league and one game behind third-place West Bend East.

“I’m proud of the guys. I’m proud of the season,” James said. “We made progress. We don’t want to lose. We don’t want our season to be over with.”

Friday was the final high school game for seniors Jaden Polack, Ben Wilkin, Brady Ward and Brandon Pegelow. James said he is thankful to the quartet for helping turn the culture around.

The history of Grafton boys’ basketball, James said, does not have a winning tradition, but that is changing, especially with the talent the Hawks have coming back.

“We’ve got sophomores and juniors out there in these moments,” he said. “We’ve got to keep getting better and I like the direction we’re headed.”