Nicolet Comes Up Short on One Day's Rest

After an early 6-6 tie, Homestead took off and never relinquished the lead, beating Nicolet 59-55 at home on Friday night.

Homestead led by 16 points in the first half, but even with sub-par shooting, Nicolet dragged itself back into the game and never stopped fighting.

Although they looked flat-footed at times, the Knights deserve credit for coming within two points with less than a minute to go in the game. A victory for the Knights would have given them sole possession of second place in the conference behind Germantown after Grafton beat Whitefish Bay.

“They shot the ball a lot better than we did,” said Nicolet head coach Paul Hepp. “We shot close to 35 percent and they must have been close to 50.”

Nicolet played on consecutive days, beating Port Washington in a make-up game Thursday night 50-41.  Hepp didn’t make any excuses or suggest that back-to-back games had any effect on Friday's outcome.

“They’re 16 and 17 years old," Hepp said. "They should be able to overcome things like that to be successful.”

Homestead had a 15-9 lead with 1:50 left in the first quarter. Nicolet senior Terrance Salter hit a three-pointer with 25 seconds left in the first, and that’s the way the quarter, ended with Homestead leading 15-12. Salter finished with 10 points on the evening. 

“It’s like I’ve been saying all year," Hepp said. “We can’t keep the focus and intensity for four quarters.

"They knew why they lost tonight, they understood.”

A three-pointer by sophomore Eugene Bonner tied the score at 15-15. Later in the second quarter, Homestead sophomore Jake Laihinen drilled a three-pointer, and the first half ended with Homestead leading 30-22.

“Nicolet is a good team and they have a good pressure defense,” said Homestead head coach Marquis Hines. “We knew we had to contain Griggs-Williams. He gets them started.” 

Griggs-Williams was hardly contained, though; he finished with 18 points. 

In the second half, Homestead’s LaMonte Bearden, a sensational freshman, started lighting up the board with three-pointers. His first bumped the score to 33-24 in Homestead’s favor. Senior Dominic Wilder hit for three, then a short time later another three-pointer by Bearden gave the Highlanders a 39-29 lead.

Bearden was 6-6 from the line, hit three 3-pointers, finishing with 19 points for the game.

Nicolet regrouped and cut the lead by scoring six unanswered points, and it was 39-35.

In the fourth quarter, Homestead put 6’7” sophomore Luke Worthington into the mix, and he made his presence known under the basket. The Highlanders opened up the scoring again, taking a 14-point lead with a little more than four minutes left in the game.

Once again, Nicolet came back and closed the gap. Griggs-Williams went strong to the basket and got the shot and the foul, then hit his free throw, making it 57-53 Homestead. 

Homestead senior Andrew Debbink picked up his fourth foul, slapping Raheem Lemons on the arm. Lemons hit both and it was 57-55 with less than a minute left. Lemons dropped in 12 points during the game.

In the remaining seconds, Treland Jenkins fouled Laihinen who hit both, notching the final score at 59-55. 

“We had our chances at the end,” Hepp said. “We didn’t get the right looks in the last minute, and we tried to get it inside.”

Dominic Wilder hit a trio of three-pointers and finished with 16 points for Homestead.

Homestead improved its record to 11-7 (7-3) and Nicolet dropped to 12-7 (7-4).

The Knights have a tough task ahead as they host Germantown on Tuesday.