Pirates, Hawks enter playoffs on winning streaks

The Grafton High School girls’ basketball team completed the season sweep at rival Cedarburg last Thursday, but the victory started on a bad foot.

The Black Hawks beat the rebuilding Bulldogs, 68-39, but lost third-leading scorer Brynlee Hildebrand to a foot injury in the first half.

Coach Matt D’Amato wasn’t sure if the junior guard would be back for the playoffs this week. She averages 9.3 points per game and is second on the team in assists with 2.7 per game.

“We had to get through one game (without injury) and that’s really unfortunate,” he said.

“We told them at halftime, ‘It’s everybody’s turn to lock down and be next person up and ready to go.’”

A 10-0 run in a two-and-a-half-minute stretch midway through the first half gave the Hawks separation they wouldn’t relinquish. They led, 45-22, at halftime.

“We played really hard, got the rebounds and made it up the floor, got the offense going,” junior Lily Verplancke said. “We get on a roll and it gets us happy.”

Some of the run came from deflections and steals by Cali Tagliapietra and Ava Dotson.

“Our plan was it starts on defense and that carries over to offense,” Tagliapietra said.

Dotson credited Tagliapietra for deflections that led to open layups.

“We always just practice and push each other,” she said.

The Hawks were happy with the sweep despite losing a starting guard.

“It was awesome. We really wanted to do it. Losing both (games) last year really built motivation to beat them this year,” Dotson said.

Tagliapietra said, “It just feels so good to beat them again.”

D’Amato is keeping the sweep in context.

“The two programs are in different spots. They’re rebuilding. They’re young and they’re improving,” he said.

Still, he liked his team’s ball movement after shooting a bunch of threes to start the game. Lily Verplancke inside was catching and either shooting or passing back outside.

“Even if it’s not an inside shot, at least get a paint touch so that we’re making the defense collapse and we’re playing a little more spread out on the offensive side,” D’Amato said.

The Hawks had another balanced attack. Dotson had 14 points, Tagliapietra had 12, Melanie Morgan had 11 and Verplancke had nine. Hildebrand hit two three-pointers before leaving.

On Feb. 17, Grafton completed the season sweep of another rebuilding team, Slinger, which went to 5-19. The Hawks won at home, 83-57.

Dotson had 19 points and Tagliapietra had 17 poitns and 11 rebounds. Hildebrand had 12 points and seven rebounds. Verplancke had 11 points and Morgan had 10.

Grafton won its last four games and finished the regular season 19-5 overall and 8-4 and in third place in the North Shore Conference. Cedarburg is 2-22 and 0-12 in the NSC.

The Hawks got a 2 seed in the playoffs and on Thursday, Feb. 26, host the winner of Tuesday’s game between No. 7 Watertown (4-19) and No. 10 West Bend West (2-22).

Thursday’s winner faces the winner of the game between No. 3 Beaver Dam (18-6) and No. 6 Slinger.

Port has learned how to win

Port Washington won two games last week, playing well in one and surviving the other.

The Pirates on Feb. 17 beat Sheboygan Falls, 54-50, largely behind Delaney Rauch and Savanna Miller, who scored 87% of the team’s points.

Rauch had 25 points on 10-for-13 shooting, five rebounds, four assists and three steals. She went 5-for-7 on three-pointers. Miller scored 22 points and had seven rebounds, five assists and six steals. She went 5-for-8 on three-pointers.

“We didn’t take care of the ball, yet we managed to win,” coach Dave Ross said. “We had some really good shooting going on.”

The teams traded baskets throughout a tight game before senior forward Norah Merow made a couple of clutch plays. She hit a late three-pointer and came out of the lane to pull the Falcons’ tall player away from the basket, then “she made two nice entry passes for easy baskets for us,” Ross said. “She struggled throughout the game, yet she stayed with it and had a nice ending to it.”

Sheboygan Falls is 14-9.

Last Thursday, Port completed the season sweep of Plymouth with a 61-32 road win.

The Pirates missed their first seven shots, “then we went on a really nice run and got the lead up to about 10,” Ross said.

Rauch and Miller got their offense going, and Merow hit a three-pointer at the halftime buzzer.

Rauch had 20 points and eight rebounds. Merow had 15 points and nine rebounds. Miller had 14 points, six rebounds and seven assists. Nataliyah Morgan had seven points on 3-for-4 shooting.

“Our defense was solid. It was a nice win. The last couple of weeks we’ve put together wins, sometimes not playing our best and sometimes showing we can be very good at times too,” Ross said.

Port finished 16-7 overall and 10-2 and in second place in the Glacier Trails Conference. Port got a 4 seed in the Division 2 tournament and hosts No. 5  Kewaskum (14-9), a team the Pirates swept this season, on Friday, Feb. 27.

The winner plays either top-seeded Milwaukee Vincent, No. 8 Cedarburg or No. 9 West Bend East on Saturday, Feb. 28.

“I just hope that our experience and now the feeling of winning gives us the confidence going into games. ‘Let’s go, we got this.’ When you learn how to win — I think we’re there — you want that to be advantageous going into games,” Ross said.

Rockets enter playoffs with victory

Cedar Grove-Belgium’s girls won three of their last five regular season games, including the finale, a 63-48 victory over Campbellsport at home last Friday.

Gracie Schmidt had 29 points on 13-for-21 shooting, along with six rebounds, six assists and seven steals.

Laila Arrowood had seven points and five rebounds. Tessa Krause had six points and six rebounds.

The Rockets led, 26-23, at halftime before pulling away.

On Feb. 17, the Rockets lost, 56-32, at Sheboygan South. Arrowood had eight points and six rebounds. Arden Getschman had seven points and five rebounds. Schmidt had six points.

The Rockets, 6-17, got an 11 seed in the Division 4 tournament and were to play at No. 6 Winnebago Lutheran (12-12) on Tuesday, Feb. 24. The winner plays at No. 3 Lomira on Friday, Feb. 27.

Ozaukee drops its last two games

Ozaukee ran into stiff competition last week. The Warriors lost at Kohler, 83-48, on Feb. 17, then to Sheboygan Lutheran at home last Thursday, 65-46.

Against Lutheran, Savannah Quade had 15 points and five assists. Mya Schroeder had 13 points, six rebounds and six assists. Bianca Marini had nine points and Chloe Dybul had seven rebounds.

Ozaukee (13-11) got a 6 seed in the Division 4 playoffs and plays at No. 3 Living Word Lutheran (21-5) on Friday, Feb. 27. The winner plays the winner of the game between No. 2 Kenosha St. Joseph and either No. 7 Brookfield Academy or No. 10 Heritage Christian on Saturday, Feb. 28.