Grafton boys look to get on track

The Grafton High School boys’ basketball team has hit a lull.

The Black Hawks last Friday lost to West Bend West, the second-last place team in the North Shore Conference, 67-53.

Coach Damon James said they blew a seven-point first-half lead and the game was knotted at 29 at the break. The Spartans pulled away in the second half.

Grafton’s Michael McNabb Jr. had 26 points on 11-for-16 shooting, and had five rebounds. Chase Norton had eight points, and Jonathan Blaubach had four points and four assists. Zach Brace had six points.

On Saturday in the inaugural Halli Lannan Memorial Basketball Showcase in Grafton, the Hawks lost to Lake Country Lutheran, ranked No. 1 in Division 3 on wissports.net, 78-43.

The Lightning took an early lead, held a 40-30 advantage at the break and extended their edge from there. They used sharp defense leading to fast breaks to keep scoring.

“Our priorities have not been on the defensive side of the ball, and you can’t win when you’re not stopping people,” James said.

“One thing you always have control over, young or not, is how hard you play and how competitive you are, and we’re just not checking those boxes. We’ve just got to find guys that want to do it. We’ll figure it out.”

McNabb had 12 points. Bennett Hildebrand had 10, and Juan Guerrero Hernandez Jr. had seven.

For the Lightning, Noah Howard and Luke Haertle each had 19 points.

Event raises money for special scholarship

James found one positive on Saturday. He started the showcase that is named after his sister-in-law.

Lannan died Dec. 29, 2020, from metastatic breast cancer. She was born in Racine, joined the Army, was named a Pat Tillman Scholar and later became an educator in Racine. She also worked for equity and was an advocate for “the most delicate and marginalized students.”

“I just thought this is something we can do to honor her memory and continue to promote what she was doing with her work with equity,” James said.

A portion of the event’s proceeds go toward a scholarship in Lannan’s name.

In other games that day, Kenosha Tremper beat Milwaukee Riverside, 77-67, and Whitnall beat Racine Case, 88-63. James’ said he wants to expand the event and bring high-level basketball to Grafton.

Grafton was to play at Port Washington on Tuesday, at Cedarburg on Friday, against Milton in Germantown on Saturday and against Whitefish Bay on Tuesday, Feb. 1.