Nicolet boys nip Port Washington in overtime, 62-58, throw NSC into chaos
Building its character with every win, the Nicolet boys basketball team turned in its second impressive North Shore victory in as many tries, holding off league-leading Port Washington, 62-58, in overtime Tuesday night to turn the league into a six-team horserace.
"This was one of the better high school games that you'll see," said Knight coach Paul Hepp. "Everyone got all they could have asked for out of it."
Coupled with Germantown's rout of Whitefish Bay and Milwaukee Lutheran's defeat of Homestead, Germantown and Port Washington are now tied for the North Shore lead at 6-3, while Nicolet, Lutheran, Homestead and Bay are all knotted up in third at 5-4. Nicolet is now 11-5 overall.
"We're not worrying about anyone else right now," said Hepp. "We know we have business to take care of ourselves."
Like taking care of Port's University of Wisconsin recruit Josh Gasser. The Pirate star was held to just 16 points and had none in the pivotal fourth quarter or overtime.
Still, the Pirates stretched out to a 32-26 halftime lead, before the Knights made a push and took a 46-45 advantage into the final stanza. The fourth quarter went back and forth. Gasser had a chance to win it at the buzzer, but his three-pointer fell short.
After an exchange of baskets, senior guard Myles Henry (game-high 20 points) got the Knights the lead for good with a driving lay-up. After a powerful block-out by Brandon Zall allowed Nicolet to collect a pivotal rebound, fellow senior Clem Robinson was fouled with 3.7 seconds left and hit two free throws to clinch the game.
Center Christian Griggs-Williams added 18 for the Knights.
Hepp could not be more pleased with the tenacity his team showed.
"It just demonstrates that the mental part of this game is not to be underestimated," he said. "I'm not sure if we're that much physically better than we were a few weeks ago, but our mental toughness is indeed back. To come back like we did (after a three-game losing streak) and then beat the two best teams in the league (including Bay last Friday) shows me a lot."
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