Epic battle ends Grafton’s season

The legacy Brock Heffner, J.P. Benzschawel and Grafton High School’s other seven seniors are leaving will last much longer than the sting of Saturday’s heart-wrenching home playoff basketball defeat by Brown Deer.

But the 70-64 overtime loss cut deep, and nobody felt it more than Heffner, who made two clutch free throws in the final seconds of regulation to tie but missed a third that would have given the Black Hawks the lead.

“All of our seniors ­— every single one of them — has been priceless. The loss hurts more to see them hurting. I just can’t thank them enough,” coach Damon James said as he leaned against the door frame of his office after the game.

The intense, physical contest fittingly came down to the wire after no more than three points separated the teams from the five-minute mark of the first half to nearly one minute into overtime – nearly 25 straight minutes.

With 10.9 seconds left in regulation, Falcon Mark Wade stepped to the free throw line after nearly dribbling out of bounds in front of Grafton’s bench in the back court before being fouled.

Wade made the first free throw in the double bonus to extend Brown Deer’s lead to 57-55. He missed the second, and Heffner grabbed the rebound as his team quickly headed up court.

Calling a timeout wasn’t an option. Grafton didn’t have any left.

Heffner dribbled to the right wing and awkwardly fired up a three-pointer before thumping to the floor when he was fouled by Brown Deer star John Lovelace, who put both hands on the back of his head in shock.

With 2.8 seconds left and his team down by two, Heffner went to the line with three free throws.

He stood behind the top of the key, walked up to the line, got the ball from the official, took two bounces, spun the ball in his hands, bent his knees and followed through.

As the ball swished through the net, Heffner confidently stepped forward to accept high fives from Benzschawel and Michael McNabb on the block.

Heffner executed the same routine with the second free throw and got the same result, and the game was tied at 57.

The Hawks’ best player had come through when it mattered most.

The third free throw had to wait. Brown Deer called a 30-second timeout.

Heffner’s routine for the third 15-footer was the same, but this time the ball bounced off the left side of the rim and grazed the backboard.

“I don’t want to make any excuses but that one’s going to hurt me for a while. It’s going to stick with me for a minute,” a sniffly, red-eyed Heffner said after coming out of the locker room. “But on to bigger and better things.”

The Falcons called timeout and had one second to go the length of the court for a winning shot. Lovelace took a pass outside of half court and launched an adrenaline-ridden shot that, had Grafton High School’s rafters not stopped it, may have joined NASA’s Perseverance over on Mars.

In the four-minute overtime period, Falcon Jeremiah Dotson hit a three-pointer from the corner and, after a Grafton miss, Falcon Armani Jones made two free throws to extend the lead to 62-57, the largest margin since the Falcons led 14-9 with seven and a half minutes left in the first half.

But the Hawks weren’t going to fold. Heffner made two free throws and McNabb made one to close to 62-60.

Benzschawel then committed his fifth foul, catching Dotson while shooting. Dotson drained two free throws, and it was 64-60 with 1 minute, 49 seconds left.

After Heffner missed a three-pointer, Jones was fouled on the rebound and went 1-for-2.

Heffner tried to respond, but missed under heavy pressure inside and then committed his fifth foul on the rebound with 67 seconds left.

Lovelace missed both free throws, and Hawk senior Tyler Tsui brought his team to within two by trotting back from the lane and taking an inbounds pass from fellow senior Dominic Voiland, then nailing a three-pointer with 49.5 seconds left.

With 42.9 seconds left, McNabb made one of two free throws to pull to within 65-64, but from there the Falcons went 5-for-6 at the line. The Hawks, with limited offensive options at that point, didn’t make another shot.

It won’t be Heffner’s last game featuring top competition. The 6 foot, 7-inch forward will play for Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis and gave credit to those who helped get him there.

“Coach James, coach (Vance) Burnside helped me literally complete my dreams of playing Division 1 basketball and everything else,” he said.

“I came from eighth grade, 6-3, like no chance of even playing basketball at the next level. Come in here, coach James and coach Burnside, they just changed me. I can’t be more thankful for them and everyone else in that locker room. It was the best year yet. I’ve had the most fun, but it’s sad that it had to come down this way. I wish the best of luck for Grafton the rest of the way through.”

Benzschawel, also 6-7, is headed to the University of Wisconsin-Madison but not for basketball. He will play offensive line n the football team.

“It’s kind of like a getaway for me. It’s a lot of different than football. I really enjoyed my time here and I really enjoyed what we did for this program,” he said. “It was a great season. I had a great time with my brothers. It’s just sad that it had to end this way.”

Voiland will play wide receiver at Carnegie Mellon University. He was one of the Hawks’ defensive specialists who harassed ball handlers and hustled on every play.

“It was part of our game plan to just keep them out of their offense, to try not to let the point guard get the ball and kind of confuse them a little bit and do something different,” Voiland said.

“Grafton basketball has given so much to me. I’ve had a great time playing the last four years.”

The game was nip-and-tuck from the start, with all-out effort on every play in which even seemingly safe and normal passes were contested and often nicked before arriving at their destinations.

The Falcons held a 26-24 halftime lead, and for a while in the second half, each basket changed the lead.

Heffner had 22 points and 12 rebounds. Benzschawel scored 19 points on 7-for-11 shooting and had seven rebounds.

McNabb had 16 points and five rebounds. For a stretch, the freshman was on the floor with four senior teammates. James is thrilled to have him back next season.

“He puts in the work. When you prepare yourself mentally and physically, then these moments aren’t too big for you and that’s why he’s able to succeed. I know this is going to fuel him even more for the next three years to win these type of big games and extend it even more,” James said.

Grafton also loses seniors Noah Bulgrin, Noah Scott, Daniel Schmitz, Zach Dujmic and Andrew Clemens.

The Hawks finished 11-7 and in fourth place in the North Shore Conference. They went 14-8 overall.

Lovelace, 6-7, who is being recruited by Division 1 schools, scored 20 points in his second game this season. A court order shortened his WIAA-required one-year hiatus from competition after transferring from Wauwatosa East this year.

Jones had 16 points, and Wade and Dotson each had 15.

Brown Deer (12-8) earned a No. 4 seed in the sectional and plays at No. 1-seeded Pewaukee (23-3) on Thursday.