Hawks snatch up All-NSC honors

The Grafton boys’ basketball team finished tied for the bottom spot in the North Shore Conference this season, but the Black Hawks were well-represented when it came to all-league voting.

Having one player named to the All-NSC second team and two others receive honorable mention even surprised Grafton coach Damon James.

“You really don’t get this many kids getting postseason accolades finishing in the bottom half of the conference,” he said.

Grafton sophomore Alex Huibregtse was chosen for the second team after averaging 15.5 points per game and scoring more than 20 points in multiple contests.

“He is good at making shots,” James said.

“Some teams box-and-one him. When that starts to happen, you know you have a pretty good player.”

Huibregtse was especially good in the first half of Grafton’s opening WIAA regional loss at West Bend East. He scored 19 points to keep the Hawks in the game.

In the second half, the Suns adjusted their defense, and Huibregtse was held to two points.

“That’s a learning process for him as well,” James said.

“But to see the glimpses, scoring 19 points in that first half and the way he got it, he was pretty efficient.”

James said Huibregtse doesn’t take a large number of field-goal attempts but has a good mindset on shooting. He shot 55% from the field.

In addition, Huibregste averaged 4.8 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game. And he got better on the other end of the court.

“Alex started to take on responsibility of guarding better players. That wasn’t his mindset early in the season,” James said.

The rest of his game improved as well.

“His feel for the game is pretty good. He really started to develop those vocal leadership skills — his understanding match-ups and directing guys in match-ups,” James said.

Grafton junior Jaden Polack and freshman Bryson Clague each earned honorable mention.

Polack averaged nearly 12 points per game and had 14 double-digit scoring games in the NSC, “and I think that means a lot,” James said.

Polack depended on his jump shot early on in his varsity career but then expanded his repertoire.

“Jaden grew in his confidence in terms of getting to the rack,” James said.

His leadership skills are coming along, as well.

“Jaden’s not a verbal type of kid, but he will definitely try to lead by his play and example. That’s an area he’s trying to work at,” James said.

Clague averaged nearly 10 points per game and came on late in the season.

“Teams started to recognize he could shoot the ball. That’s his strength right now, being a big-time shooter,” James said.

When Huibregtse was out, Clague stepped up to score nearly 20 points in a couple of games.

“I think that helped his confidence tremendously. He’s got three more years. He’s going to get better,” James said.

Clague’s defense improved as well.

“He guarded some of the team’s better perimeter players. He had the lateral quickness to guard some of those quicker guards,” James said.

Off the court, James lauded his all-conference trio’s work in the classroom. All are getting good grades, he said.

James said he looks forward to having all three standouts back next season, along with the rest of a team that was full of underclassmen. “The future is bright as long as these kids continue to work,” he said.

Port Washington shared last place in the league with Grafton, but that didn’t take away from the season of junior Adam Baierl.

The point guard averaged 12.1 points per game in the NSC, along with 6.1 rebounds, three assists and 1.9 steals. Coach Brian Hebein had hoped Baierl would be named to the second team, but he received honorable mention.

“I thought he had a lot of good all-around games. I thought he was a solid second-teamer,” Hebein said.

“The good news is it will help fuel fire for the next season.”

The two-time captain led Port in most categories and has grown in his third year on varsity.

“He sees things and can come to me, ‘This is what I’m seeing, this is what they’re doing,’” Hebein said. “He’s a smart player. He just does everything.”

Baierl’s ball handling helped Port start its offense sooner than opponents would have liked.

“I think a lot of teams backed off the press at times this year because they knew he was the primary ball handler. They knew he would make decisions and beat the press,” Hebein said.

Hebein said he looks for good things to come next season.

“The biggest thing we’ll look for next year is we’ll expand his shooting range more. Hopefully, he cracks into that first or second team,” Hebein said.

Baierl’s talent equals his skill in the classroom as he maintains a grade-point average of more than 4.0.