Nicolet Knocks Off Hamilton in Sectional Semifinals

Wales — The first half, both offensively and defensively, was hit or miss for Nicolet.

But the Knights put it together in the second half and rolled to a 54-32 victory over Sussex Hamilton in a WIAA Division 1 girls sectional semifinal game Thursday night at Kettle Moraine High School.

Nicolet, which improved to 22-2 for the season, will play Arrowhead for the sectional title at 7 p.m. Saturday. Arrowhead advanced to the sectional final with a 51-47 victory over host Kettle Moraine Thursday night. Hamilton, which had advanced with a 47-30 victory over Waukesha South in the opening round, finished its season at 16-8.

Although the score indicates a rout, the Knights had difficulty against the Chargers in the first half.  Nicolet jumped out to an 11-4 lead midway in the first quarter, but Hamilton cut the lead to five by the end of the first quarter. The Knights continued to struggle in the second quarter and led 23-16 at halftime.

“I think in the first half we lost our principles defensively and they took advantage of that,” Nicolet coach Corey Wolf said.  “I thought (Hannah Menzia) did a good job handling the ball the first half. We had one or two kids who would miss a rotation; they were kind of doing their own thing. I think we cleaned that up in the second half.”

Ashley Green provided the spark defensively for the Knights in the second half. She unnerved the Chargers on several occasions with her defensive pressure. She finished with 19 points for Nicolet.

“Ashley is a fierce competitor and she will do whatever it takes to win a basketball game,” Wolf said. ”Sometimes it’s stepping up and scoring like you saw and other times, it’s stepping up and playing defense. She guarded their off guard, she guarded their point guard. She’s so active, when we make mistakes, she covers for them.”

Green also admitted to being a more vocal leader on the court Thursday night.

“I talk on the court, but not to the extent I talked tonight,” she said. “Every play I would scream or get excited, it kind of goes with being a senior and not wanting to lose. We all want to make it to state and win state.”

The Knights also got a solid performance from senior center Alex Cohen.  Cohen also scored 19 points and was active on the defensive end. But it was her three baskets, including a 3-pointer, midway in the third quarter that turned a nine-point lead into a 16-point cushion for Nicolet.

“They definitely got the game to be the tempo that favors them and that’s a credit to their defense,” Hamilton coach Dan Carey said. “We were able to get some easy baskets, but I think you saw as the game wore on, they kind of wore us out and that showed in the third and fourth quarters.”

Hamilton 8--9--3--12—32
Nicolet    13-10-13-18—54

Hamilton: Krohn 2 0-0 6, Destache 3 0-0 6, Shernell 2 0-2 4, M. Latt 1 1-2 3, D. Latt 1 0-0 2, Lemon 5 0-0 11.Totals 14 1-4 32.

Nicolet: Smith 0 0-2 0, Green 9 1-2 19, Bronson 1 4-4 6, Fair 4 0-0 10, Cohen 6 6-6 19. Totals 20 11-14 54

Three-point baskets: Hamilton – Krohn (2), Lemon. Nicolet -- Fair (2), Cohen. Total fouls: Hamilton 17, Nicolet 9. Fouled out – None.