Grafton girls follow narrow win with blowout

The Grafton High School girls’ basketball team pulled out one close game with a shorthanded lineup, then blew out an overmatched opponent closer to full strength last week.

Ashley Weir and Ella Day had double-doubles to help lead the Black Hawks (11-1) to a 61-56 win over Franklin (7-2) Dec. 28 in the Viking Holiday Classic hosted by New Berlin Eisenhower.

Weir had 13 points and 12 rebounds, and Day had 11 points, 11 rebounds and three steals.

“That was huge,” coach Matt D’Amato said of their performances.

The Hawks were without guard Savannah James, making for a shorter rotation.

“A couple of girls were quite tired, but they hung in there,” D’Amato said.

Sophomore Sarah Aleknavicius led the team with 16 points, including a clutch layup under pressure late, and she had five rebounds and four assists.

The Hawks held a 35-29 lead at halftime and a 49-41 lead with less than 11 minutes to play.

The Sabers tried to come back, but senior Ava Wilmanns made a huge block on a fast break, then drew a charge on the same possession.

After a Sabers’ bucket inside to cut the lead to six, Weir drilled a three-pointer from the top of the key on a pass from Grace McNabb in the lane to push the edge to 52-43.

Senior Maddy Wille later scored on a fast break on a pass from Weir to make it 54-45, but the Sabers hit three free throws and a three-pointer to cut the lead to 54-51.

With 2 minutes, 16 seconds left, Aleknavicius drove to the basket from the left side and hit a contested layup to make it 56-51. Weir then grabbed a defensive rebound and made a shot inside on a bullet pass from fellow senior Emily Grisar to make it 58-51 with 1:49 left.

McNabb made a steal on the next possession. After an Alenavicius miss, Grisar lunged for the rebound before the ball went out of bounds and got it back to McNabb.

Grisar was later fouled and hit one of two free throws to push the Hawks’ lead back to eight at 59-51.

McNabb hit two free throws late, and the Sabers made one free throw before hitting a layup at the buzzer.

“One of the things that really stood out for us the most as a coaching staff was we had a little bit of a lead, then Franklin closed the gap to 54-51,” D’Amato said. “We talked about being consistent and that we can weather that storm — the comeback by Franklin — and then we kinda put the game away.”

Another highlight was the team play. The Hawks don’t rely on just one or two players to score, pass, rebound or play defense.

 “That’s kind of what we’ve been preaching all year. It’s got to be a ‘we before me’ attitude. Whatever we need, everybody’s got to do their job,” D’Amato said. “If they’re not scoring, fine, maybe it’s grabbing rebounds or playing defense We’re down Savannah. We’re down a scorer. Others stepped up.”

 One example of that was a fast break in the second half. Day snagged a defensive rebound and passed to Grisar, who fired a long ball to Aleknavicius. She followed with a cross-court pass to Wilmanns, who dumped the ball inside to Day, who dished it to Weir for a short baseline jumper to make it 47-39. The ball didn’t touch the ground on the final three passes.

 “That’s the goal. We’re looking to move the ball up the floor,” D’Amato said.

A day later against Greendale, James returned, and the Panthers wished she had stayed home in a 79-35 loss.

The sophomore sharpshooter, who on Dec. 18 went Stephen Curry on Laconia, hitting seven of eight three-pointers in the first half, led the Hawks with 24 points, going 6-for-13 from long range. She added four rebounds.

Grafton fell behind, 11-5, early to the 1-8 Panthers, before finishing the half on a 32-15 run to take a 37-26 lead at the break.

The Hawks destroyed Greendale, 42-9, in the second half.

Weir had 16 points on 7-for-13 shooting, nine steals and six rebounds. McNabb had 11 points, and Natalie Manuel had nine. Aleknavicius had two points, six rebounds and five assists. Ten Hawks scored.

Grafton, 5-1 in the North Shore Conference, plays at Slinger (5-1 NSC) for sole possession of third place on Friday. The Hawks host Homestead, 6-0 and tied with Cedarburg for the NSC lead, on Tuesday, Jan. 11.