A tough sweep

The sequel wasn’t going to be anything like the first, and the Grafton High School boys’ basketball team knew it.

Three days after beating Port Washington at home, 68-53, the Pirates were going to do their best to reverse fortunes at their place, and they nearly pulled it off.

Port got off to a searing start, making five of their first seven three-pointers, but only held a one-point halftime lead.

The Black Hawks used their inside prowess to take the lead and hang on for a 61-52 win on Jan. 12 and sweep the season series.

Grafton’s 6 feet, 7-inch forward Brock Heffner scored 23 points and had 15 rebounds and six assists He went 7-for-17 from the field and 9-for-10 on free throws.

The Hawks’ other beast inside, 6-7 J.P. Benzschawel, had 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Guard Tyler Tsui scored 11 points.

“Playing them a second time’s not going to be like the first game. They came out in their place shooting the lights out,” Heffner said.

“Once we realized we were down and in a bad situation, we just clicked in and did our thing.”

Grafton coach Damon James said, “These back-to-backs teach you that a team is never the same the second time around. They did a good job.”

For Port, junior guard Aedan Egan scored 15 points. Sophomore guard Nate Uselding had 11, sophomore forward Ryan Burmesch had nine and senior guard Nick Burmesch had eight. Forward Michael Bunyan had six points.

“We came out and played with a lot of confidence,” Port coach Brian Hebein said. “It was nice to actually jump out to a lead to start the game instead of starting in a hole.”

Hebein praised the play of Egan, Uselding and the Burmeschs on the offensive end. He said Uselding played fantastic on the top of their 1-3-1 zone defense and lauded Nick Burmesch for taking two charges, one against Benzschawel, a future University of Wisconsin-Madison offensive lineman.

“You take  a charge from Benzschawel you’re going to feel that the next day,” Hebein said.

The Hawks built a 15-0 lead in the first meeting. This time, the Pirates jumped out to a 9-2 lead behind one Uselding bucket inside and another on a fast break, a Nick Burmesch three-pointer and Ryan Burmesch shot in the paint.

The Hawks came back to tie the game at 10, and it was close the rest of the half. The Hawks’ defense made eight straight stops and Port held a 28-27 edge at the break.

“We just had to play through it, stick to our game plan,” Tsui said.

More than four minutes into the second half, Bennett Hildebrand hit a three-pointer to give the Hawks a 37-34 lead, one they wouldn’t relinquish. Dominic Voiland followed with a three-pointer, Chase Norton scored on a putback and Heffner hit two free throws after being fouled on a blazingly quick fast break. Benzschawel snared a defensive rebound and dished an outlet pass to Tsui, who took one dribble and sent the ball upcourt to a streaking Heffner.

“That’s what you need to do against a zone. Get some quick, early looks,” James said.

The Hawks began to get out in transition and take over inside with Heffner and Benzschawel.

“We started to get locked in more, started going back to the fundamentals. We figured it out,” Benzschawel said.

“They know each other on the court with their eyes closed. They’ve been playing together since youth basketball. It’s great to coach them,” James said.

The lead reached 44-34. Port later got as close as 48-44 when Egan hit a shot inside, got fouled and made the free throw.

In the final six minutes, the Hawks went 6-for-7 on free throws to help hang on. For the game, they shot 13-for-14 at the line.

Heffner continued a hot week with 41 points in a 68-57 win over West Bend West last Friday. He went 16-for-23 from the field and 3-for-5 on three-pointers.

“He played with extremely high energy that game. He was super effective around the rim and hit some timely threes that were in rhythm,” James said.

Voiland held Aaron Tennies, who averages 20 points per game, to seven points on 3-for-15 shooting. Tsui scored 15 points and went 3-for-4 on three-pointers.

“Tyler had an outstanding weekend, and I thought Dominic Voiland was given a challenge and he succeeded in that challenge. He did an outstanding job,” James said.

Benzschawel had 12 rebounds.

Riley O’Connell led West with 21 points and 13 rebounds.

Last Saturday, the Hawks beat the Milwaukee Academy of Science, which was highly ranked in Division 4, 72-61.

Tsui had 18 points, Heffner had 17 and Hildebrand had 16. Michael McNabb Jr. had nine. Benschawel missed the game due to a family obligation.

Guard Donald McHenry scored 29 for the Novas.

Grafton, 9-3 overall and 8-3 in the North Shore Conference, hosts Cedarburg (10-1 NSC) on Friday, non-conference foe Brown Deer (3-6) on Saturday and West Bend East (5-6) on Tuesday, Jan. 26.

Port was put into quarantine for a second time due to Covid-19. The Pirates could practice Wednesday and play at West Bend East on Friday. They host Homestead (4-6) on Saturday and play at Slinger (3-8) on Tuesday, Jan. 26.