Spoilers hold on for win against Hatton-Northwood
Area high school basketball roundup
The Grafton Spoilers improved to 2-0 on the early season with a 53-51 win over the Hatton-Northwood (H-N) Thunder last Thursday in Hatton.
The game was billed as a possible preview of the 2012 Region 2 championship game between the second ranked Thunder and the defending Region 2 champion Spoilers.
According to Grafton coach Mike Hanson the game was more of a typical early season game with some key H-N players missing and both teams not playing to the level they most likely will be at the end of the season.
“I don’t think either team was happy with the way they played offensively or defensively,” Grafton coach Mike Hanson said. “But, a win is a win and we’ll take it.”
Grafton led at all the quarter stops, 8-7 after one and 19-15 at halftime. A three-pointer at the buzzer by senior Nic Lundquist gave Grafton a 37-33 lead after three quarters.
A basket by John Henry Woodward pulled the Thunder within one point, 52-51 with 33 seconds left in the game.
A shot by H-N’s Mike Paulson was in and out in the final 10 seconds. Grafton’s Adam Jiskra came up with the rebound and was immediately fouled. Jiskra hit one of two free throw attempts with four seconds to go to account for the 53-51 final.
Jiskra led Grafton with 19 points, followed by Nic Lundquist with 11, Jake Hanson with nine and Austin Contreras with six points. Thomas Houdek added four points for Grafton, followed by Zach Burns and Garek Droog with two points each.
Greg Thompson led three Thunder players in double figures with 17 points.
“They were missing a couple of kids, so when they get back, they’ll be better,” Hanson said. “But I expect we’ll be better by the end of the year too.”