North Shore boys basketball wrap-ups: March 12

Shorewood

Shorewood had a successful start to the postseason by beating Milwaukee Messmer, 57-53, in a regional quarterfinal March 3.

But the season came to an end with a 71-33 loss to Whitefish Bay on March 5.

The Greyhounds used a big first half to spark their win Messmer.

"We really played well in the first three quarters, and thank goodness because that gave us enough of a lead (13 points) to hold on to," Shorewood coach John Hoch said. "Messmer did a great job applying pressure to get back into it, and caused some big turnovers."

The turnovers and poor free-throw shooting - the Greyhounds were 12-for-27 - let the Bishops (6-14) back in the game. Messmer got within three points late.

"I think that all of our experience with tight games this season paid dividends," Hoch said. "We stayed poised just enough to hang on. It was an exciting victory for our fans, and well deserved for our seniors."

Anthony Oliphant scored 20 points - 12 coming on four 3-pointers - while Charles Miller added 13.

Bay put the semifinal game away early with an 18-3 first quarter.

"Their length on defense, their skill on offense absolutely killed us," Hoch said. "I thought our guys played hard, but Bay has the look of a champion right now. They didn't win the North Shore Conference by accident."

The Greyhounds who finished 6-16 overall, including 3-3 in their last six games.

- Tom "Sky" Skibosh,

Staff Writer

Brown Deer

The Falcons' season came to an end with a 77-70 loss to host Milwaukee Marshall in a WIAA Division 2 regional semifinal March 5.

The Falcons, who had defeated Grafton, 71-65 in a quarterfinal March 3, finished at 10-12.

Marshall took a 20-14 first-quarter lead and never trailed after that. The deficit was 53-43 going into the fourth quarter.

Joziah Mallett had a huge game for the Falcons, finishing with 25 points, including five 3-pointers, while Christopher Morgan had 18.

Against Grafton, the Falcons had to rally after the Blackhawks took a 17-11 first-quarter lead. The Falcons took a 31-30 advantage into halftime and gradually expanded it.

The Falcons were paced by Jaleel Queary with 22 points, Morgan with 14 and Steve Zielinski with 11.

Homestead

Host Waukesha North (15-7) decided to take the leading threat for the Highlanders, John Laihinen, out of the equation in the WIAA regional semifinal March 3.

That spelled bad news for the locals as their season came to an end with a 69-56 loss.

The Northstars got out to an 18-4 first-quarter lead, holding the Highlanders to just 1-of-10 shooting in the stanza.

"They were very aware of John, and they really tied him up pretty well," Homestead coach Ray Curry said of Laihinen, who finished with two points. "He was forced to give up the ball and that turned us into a jump-shooting team, which has been a problem for us lately."

Homestead (6-15) scored well above the Northstars area-leading defensive average of 39 points. Tyler Rembert had 12 points and Lamonte Moore nine for the Highlanders.

Nicolet

After a discouraging stretch run at the end of the regular season, the Knights finished well by defeating Milwaukee Riverside, 66-55, in a regional semifinal March 3, and giving Milwaukee Washington a tussle before falling, 76-67, in a regional final March 7.

The split closed the Knights' season at 9-13 and gave Hepp some hope for his young team heading into next season.

"We showed we could compete with the better teams," Nicolet coach Paul Hepp said. "Now we have to prove that we can beat them."

Against Washington (20-1), the Knights were led by sophomore Christian Griggs-Williams', who after a season largely spent on junior varsity, scored 17 points. Myles Henry added 15 and Clem Robinson 12.

Antoine Byrd, one of the state's best players, had 22 for the Purgolders.

Nicolet outscored Riverside, 35-24, in the second half to earn the semifinal win.

Cinmeon Bowers had 18 and Henry 17 for the Knights.

- Steven L. Tietz,

Staff Writer