Cruise control

Games were over early for the Grafton High School girls’ basketball team last week.

The Black Hawks took huge leads to start contests at West Bend East and Cedar Grove-Belgium and never looked back.

Against the Rockets on Saturday, the Hawks had a 37-9 lead by the break. The only drama left was when Hannah Belanger would break the school’s all-time scoring record. They won, 65-32.

Belanger broke the mark and scored 23. Mya Masse had a season-high 14 points, and Hailey Block scored 11. Lexi Hilgart added eight.

“We’ve just been preaching to the girls, being on the road you’ve got to come out and create your own energy,” coach Mike Grzesiak said.

“Hold them to one shot and get out in transition.”

Ellie Felsinger led the Rockets with 17 points. Maddie Sutryk had seven.

“They play really good defense. Hannah Belanger is a really good player. They kind of got us on our heels early on and we couldn’t respond after that,” coach Jason Jones said.

At East last Thursday, the Hawks started the game with a 22-1 run and were up 27-9 at halftime. They won, 56-26.

“Our defense is what gets us going. If we come out flat and allow teams to score second-chance points, we get in trouble,” Grzesiak said.

Belanger scored 15, Hilgart had 12 and Julia Place had 10. Ella Day had nine points.

The Hawks have now held every opponent but one to 23 points or less in the first half, including defending North Shore Conference champion Slinger.

“Defense doesn’t take a lot of skill. It takes a little bit of effort and a lot of heart,” Grzesiak said.

The Hawks, 8-4 in the NSC and 11-5 overall, play at Whitefish Bay (10-1 NSC) on Friday and host Nicolet (4-9) for Senior Night on Tuesday.

The Rockets last Thursday lost to Big East Conference rival Random Lake, 59-41. They were down, 19-16, at halftime before the Rams pulled away.

“We were right there with them the whole first half and even leading in the second half for a little while,” Jones said.

Sutryk and Alyssa Mentink each scored 10 points. The Rockets were missing Alex Mentink the last two games, one of their best defenders.

“We just need girls to step up so we’re trying to figure that out,” Jones said.

The Rockets, 5-7 in the Big East and 8-9 overall, play in the conference tournament at Sheboygan Christian on Saturday.