Sports
Knights Put The Hurt on Grafton, 60-42
Nicolet boys' basketball team breaks away in second half
Sometimes the score on the board doesn't tell the whole story.
Nicolet beat Grafton 60-42 Friday night in boys' basketball action on the Black Hawks' home court, but if you watched the game it never appeared to be completely one-sided.
"In no way was it a blowout," said Nicolet head coach Paul Hepp. "Every game you can win on the road is a big win. Any team can beat you on any night."
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The Knights improved to 5-2 overall and 2-1 in North Shore Conference play while Grafton fell to 2-5 and 0-3.
Smothering defense by both teams in the early going made it seem this was anybody's game. A full court shot by Nicolet at the end of the first quarter bounced off the backboard, leaving the Knights on top 15-13.
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Early in the second quarter, Grafton sophomore Jake Wilde tied the score with a jump shot making it 15-all. Nicolet sophomore Eugene Bonner hit a jumper with 4:50 left in the second to move the Knights ahead 20-17.
"They played a tenacious defense and forced a lot of turnovers, seven or eight in the first half," Hepp said. "Once we were able to control the ball things got better for us."
Junior Corey Smith gave the Knights a boost just before halftime. Nicolet held the ball for the final shot and Smith nailed a 3-pointer to give the Knights a 29-23 halftime lead. Raheem Lemons knocked in 12 of those points. Grafton senior Jonathan Adamiatis had eight points for the Black Hawks in the first half.
In the second half, Lemons put the Knights up 39-31 with a layup with 2:43 left in third. Grafton started to go flat as the Knights racked up more steals and kept putting points on he board. They were up by 14 points with five minutes left in the game.
"In the first quarter we didn't do a very good job of handling the ball," Hepp said. "We turned it over a lot and that put us in a bind."
The Knights were sent to the free throw line a lot, but they sent the Black Hawks to the line as well. "Our big man (senior Christian Griggs-Williams) got into some foul trouble, but to his credit he stayed tough and played smart the rest of the game."
The Knights will enjoy the holiday break before returning to action on Dec. 29 in the Brookfield Central Tourney.
