Grisar’s glory:

Grafton senior drains buzzer-beater to top West Bend East, keep Black Hawks’ season alive and send the team and fans into pandemonium

GRAFTON’S EMILY GRISAR hit a three-point shot at the buzzer that gave Grafton the win over West Bend East Friday in a Division 2 regional basketball playoff game in Grafton. Photo by Mitch Maersch
By 
MITCH MAERSCH
Ozaukee Press staff

Grafton High School girls’ basketball coach Matt D’Amato planned to call a timeout, then instantly decided against it.

Senior Emily Grisar followed with a shot that will be frozen in Black Hawks’ basketball lore forever.

Grisar banked in a buzzer-beater that bounced around the rim long enough for everyone in the gym to take a few extra gasps before falling through the net as Grafton beat West Bend East, 40-37, in a regional playoff game on Friday.

“You know, I knew it was going in,” Grisar said with a straight face as her four fellow seniors burst into giggles.

“Just kidding.

“I was counting on coach to call timeout, and then he just decided to let me shoot it.”

That’s essentially what happened, D’Amato said.

In a disastrous last 31.5 seconds, the Black Hawks threw an errant pass out of bounds, gave up a steal and then fouled the Suns while diving to get the ball back with 6.2 seconds left.

East was in the double bonus, and Sadie Lord missed the first free throw. The Suns called a timeout, and Lord then missed the second one.

Grisar pulled down the rebound, dribbled around a double team and took a shot while on the move a few feet behind the three-point line to the right of the top of the key.

“In the timeout before the free throw, I told the girls I was going to call a timeout when we got the rebound,” D’Amato said.

“When Emily got the ball, I was kind of seeing if she was going to get out of the trap.”

She did, and D’Amato changed his strategy.

“I didn’t feel like there was enough time, and I didn’t want the defense to get the opportunity to reset up in the half court,” he said.

“I have a lot of trust in Emily, in her court vision. If she didn’t feel like she had the shot, she would have kicked it up ahead. It was trusting a senior in clutch spots, and Emily’s got a sense for the clutch gene.”

Senior Ella Day was quick to point out that Grisar hit a buzzer-beater in eighth grade and another as a sophomore.

This time, it kept the Hawks’ season alive.

Bedlam ensued. The student section stormed the court in less time than the ball was in the air, mobbing Grisar, who was already being smothered by her teammates and coach.

The fact that Grisar was on the block during the free throw was no accident. Despite standing 5 feet, 7 inches tall, she is a scrappy rebounder.

“That whole family boxes out extremely well. Her little sister Abbey — in practice we use her as an example because of how she boxes out,” D’Amato said.

Emily Grisar’s shot pulled a victory from what looked to be a season-ending defeat early. The Suns jumped out to a 9-0 lead barely four minutes into the game. The Hawks, who have had a recent tendency to go cold, started frigidly in their home playoff game.

Savannah James got them on the board with a free throw, and 10 seconds later Grisar scored the team’s first bucket after making a steal.

Eighteen seconds after that, Grisar deflected a pass, Ashley Weir flipped it to Sarah Aleknavicius on the fast break, and it was 9-5 with more than 12 minutes left in the half.

The Suns pushed the lead back to 19-10 before the Hawks battled back to a 21-19 deficit at the break.

They got a boost from their bench. Natalie Manuel drove to the basket and scored while getting fouled, but missed the free throw.

D’Amato put in senior Maddy Wille “because she’s a lockdown defender,” and Wille hit an inside shot after a steal on a rebound from a free throw, then 35 seconds later drained a three-pointer from the corner to cut the deficit to two.

“I think once we got the jitters out in those first few minutes, we were fine,” Wille said.

A James’ three-pointer early in the second half gave the Hawks their first lead, 22-21, and an Aleknavicius cut to the basket and shot pushed the edge to 35-28 with six and a half minutes left.

The Suns came back to tie it at 35 before Day scored inside with 3 minutes, 20 seconds left. Cadence Xiong, who led all scorers with 14 points, answered with her own shot in the paint to knot the score at 37 with 2:48 left.

The Suns slowed down Grafton’s running game for most of the contest, playing patient offense and contesting shots.

“We didn’t shoot well, but they deserve credit for making us not shoot well. Their hustle on the defensive end is phenomenal,” D’Amato said.

Day said she knew what sparked the Hawks in the second half.

“Defense,” she said. “Once we get our defense going, we know that brings our offense.”

“Then when we get the steals,” Weir said,  “we gain momentum so it just continues from there.”

Weir had 10 points, 13 rebounds, four assists and two steals. James had seven points. Grisar had five points, five rebounds and six steals. Day had five points and four rebounds, and Wille had five points.

Aleknavicius was held to four points and battled foul trouble, picking up her fourth in the first minute of the second half.

The Suns finished 9-16 overall, 6-12 and in seventh place in the North Shore Conference.

Grafton’s run ends at Beaver Dam

Last Saturday, Beaver Dam showed the Hawks why it was a No. 1 seed in a 60-43 win in a regional final.

An upset looked promising early.

“Focus-wise, I felt like we were there. Friday didn’t get to us emotionally,” D’Amato said.

“We came out, we played them hard. With three and a half minutes to go in the first half, we’re down, 18-15. I remember looking up at the clock thinking, if we can tread water here and one person gets hot...”

One did, only it was a Golden Beaver. Two three-pointers and a couple of more shots later, the Hawks were down, 30-18, at halftime.

The Hawks’ game plan was to not get beat in the paint, given the Golden Beavers’ size advantage. Grafton executed relatively well, but Beaver Dam hit enough outside shots and got a couple of buckets in the paint when the Hawks’ rotations weren’t quick enough.

Anni Salettel scored 15 points and Gabby Wilke (6-2), who has Division 1 offers, scored 12.

Day, a 6-0 forward, had a day for the Hawks, scoring a game-high 16 points with four assists. Ava Wilmanns had eight points, and Aleknavicius had five points and five rebounds.

“Ella Day came to play. She realized outside shooters were being shut down, and she attacked,” D’Amato said. “It was her best game of the year by far. She even played point guard since they weren’t guarding her full court.”

The Hawks finished 19-7 overall and 12-6 in the NSC, good for fourth.

“The vibe in the locker room, the attitude, was better at the end of the year than at the beginning. I’m proud of how they had each other’s backs,” D’Amato said.

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