Momentum builds for Port, Grafton girls late in the season

A 13-0 run in the final five minutes of the first half broke a one-point game open and gave the Port Washington High School girls’ basketball team the separation it needed to win at Kewaskum, 47-38, last Friday.

The Pirates sealed a second-place finish in the Glacier Trails Conference.

Port slowed the pace to try to neutralize Kewaskum’s leading scorer Cameron Boelte, who averages nearly 16 points per game. She scored two points in the team’s first meeting on Jan. 13 and eight on Friday.

“We always have a goal to shut down (opponents’) best players. I think we’ve done a great job of that this season,” senior Savanna Miller said.

It didn’t come easily.

“We weren’t using whole-package defense because we had so many fouls,” coach Dave Ross said. “It was kind of a grinder game. Defensively, we played really well.”

Miller had 13 points and Delaney Rauch had 12, but both sat a good portion with foul trouble. Norah Merow had seven points, 15 rebounds and three blocks. Grace Riley had seven points and Ava Paulin had six.

“Grace made some really nice baskets as well as some nice passes to Norah,” Ross said.

The closing first-half run gave Port a 27-13 lead. Miller had five points in the stretch. Paulin and Rauch each had three, and Riley had two.

The Indians cut the lead to 43-35 with 77 seconds left, but never got closer.

“I wasn’t getting worried. I think we needed to slow down a little bit and just take our time instead of getting flustered,” Miller said. “Once we did that, we knew we could do it.”

Port moved to 9-2 in the GTC and 15-7 overall. Rauch said some of the team’s success comes from camaraderie.

“I think we play together a lot and we’re really close,” she said.

Port was to host Sheboygan Falls on Tuesday, Feb. 17. Port  plays at Plymouth on Thursday, Feb. 19. They got a 4 seed in the Division 2 playoffs and will host No. 5 Kewaskum (7-5, GTC, 13-9 overall) on Feb. 27.

Grafton starts hot, hangs on

Hot shooting cooled and momentum changed, but Grafton escaped Glendale with a double-digit win over Nicolet on Feb. 10.

Grafton guard Cali Tagliapietra scored 30 points on 9-for-16 shooting from the field and 8-for-12 on free throws. She also had seven rebounds.

“Thank goodness she shot well,” coach Matt D’Amato said.

The Black Hawks could have pulled away by more, but they only went 16-for-34 (47%) on free throws.

They started out hot, building a 45-34 halftime lead.

“We were shooting at an unbelievable clip, which actually made me nervous,” D’Amato said. “We were only up 11. If we go cold, we have to figure out how to stop them.”

The Knights made a run, cutting the lead to about five with around six minutes to go and their home crowd behind them.

“As soon as something started to go against us, the momentum shift was insane,” D’Amato said.

Bizarre antics also ensued. At one point, D’Amato said Nicolet coach James Wright walked over to the scorer’s table, took the microphone and announced to the crowd that the last play was a double dribble. He got a warning for that and was later whistled for a technical foul.

Grafton’s Melanie Morgan had 11 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Lily Verplancke had 10 points on 4-for-5 shooting, five rebounds and four assists. Brynlee Hildebrand had 10 points and eight assists. Ava Dotson had seven points, five rebounds, three assists and two blocks.

Grafton went to 6-4 in the North Shore Conference (17-5 overall) and Nicolet to 2-8 in the NSC (10-11).

The Hawks were to host Slinger on Tuesday, Feb. 17. They play at Cedarburg on Thursday, Feb. 19.

The Hawks got a 2 seed in the Division 2 playoffs and on Friday, Feb. 27, host the winner of the game between No. 7 Watertown and No. 10 West Bend West.