Grafton girls narrowly miss buzzer-beating win vs. Laconia

By MITCH MAERSCH

Ozaukee Press staff

The Grafton High School girls’ basketball team split two home nonconference games the hard way last week.

The Black Hawks beat Franklin, 69-57, on Nov. 29, before losing to Laconia, 54-53.

“That was one of the more fun games I’ve coached at Grafton. It really stinks that we ended up on the wrong side of it,” coach Matt D’Amato said.

The Hawks held a 33-29 lead at halftime, then fell behind 43-36 and 50-43 before battling back. Sarah Aleknavicius hit two free throws with 49 seconds left to tie the game at 53.

The Spartans missed a three-pointer, and Aleknavicius was fouled on the rebound. She missed the front end of the bonus with 33.3 seconds left, but Josie Gehrke got the rebound.

Grafton tried to hold for one shot, but Laconia’s Aubrey Leonard stepped in front of a pass and was fouled as she stole the ball with 11 ticks to play.

She made the second of two free throws to give the Spartans a one-point lead, and Grafton called timeout with 7.4 seconds left.

Savannah James, woh went 7-for-10 on three-pointers in a 68-39 win over Laconia last season, got an open look on a three-pointer from the left wing after taking a dribble, but the ball bounced off  the rim. Sarah Aleknavicius grabbed the rebound under the basket but her putback attempt was blocked as time expired.

“Sometimes they just don’t drop. That’s how life goes sometimes,” D’Amato said.

“I told the girls they should be really proud of how they played. They played hard in crunch time and made some good plays.”

James had 16 points and seven rebounds. Aleknavicius had 12 points and seven rebounds. Gracie McNabb had 11 points. Marissa Morgan had eight rebounds. Grace Viesselmann had seven points, seven rebounds and four steals.

Leonard led Laconia with 14 points, six assists and five rebounds.

The Hawks’ strong start against Franklin built a 36-26 lead that they didn’t relinquish.

McNabb had 15 points, going 5-for-7 on three-pointers. Viesselmann had 13 points, six rebounds and five assists. Morgan had 12 points, Aleknavicius had nine points and seven assists, and James had eight points.

D’Amato said he was proud of Morgan’s defense on Natalie Meaux, who scored 21 points on the Hawks last year but was held to six this season.

“She did a phenomenal job,” D’Amato said of Morgan.

Grafton, 2-1 overall and 1-0 in the North Shore Conference, was to host Port Washington on Tuesday, Dec. 6, and defending NSC champ Cedarburg on Friday, Dec. 9. The Hawks play at Whitefish Bay on Tuesday, Dec. 13.

Port girls drop first NSC game

The Port Washington girls lost to West Bend East at home last Friday, 60-49.

“They’re solid. They have some good veteran players,” coach Jakob Wahl said of East. “They take care of the basketball. They make good plays.”

Suns Cadence Xiong and Sara Doedens each had 20 points.

For Port, Lillian Merow had 19 points, Sierra Miller had 13, Maggie Zirbes had nine and Norah Merow had eight.

Wahl said he liked the combination of playing the two tall Merows together.

“It will cause some match-ups in our favor,” he said.

Port, 2-1 overall and 0-1 in the NSC, was to play at Grafton on Tuesday, Dec. 6, host Slinger on Friday, Dec. 9, and play at Cedarburg on Tuesday, Dec. 13.