CLARKSBURG, W.Va. — With Grafton having played a game ahead of Thursday’s matchup at Notre Dame that marked the Irish’s season opener, Bearcats’ coach Michael Johnson thought the opportunity would be there for his team to get off to a fast start.
“We knew it was their first game, so there’s that little feeling out process for them,” Johnson said. “We went through that at East Fairmont the other night. We said that getting a good start over here is really important.”
Grafton did just that, building a 17-4 lead after one quarter. Although the Irish spent the next two-plus quarters fighting back and eventually went ahead, GHS closed the contest on a 14-3 run to claim a 73-66 victory at Angelo Basile Court.
Grafton (2-0) fell behind 63-59 just past the midway point of the fourth quarter after the Irish (0-1) got consecutive three-pointers from Kobe Martino and Clay Martino.
But the Bearcats pulled even at 63 on back-to-back Justin Spiker layups, before going ahead for good on two Blake Moore free throws with 1:20 to play.
The Irish had difficulty generating offense down the stretch, and after Kaden Delaney split two free throws, Moore went 7-of-8 at the line over the final 38 seconds to help his team preserve the victory.
“We told them they’re a good basketball team, they’re going to make a run at you and they did,” Johnson said. “During the timeout in the fourth quarter when we went down with three or four minutes to go, we told our kids, ‘Just relax. Make the good decisions that you made early and we’ll find a way to get it done.’ We were able to do that.”
Grafton limited NDHS to 2-of-12 shooting in the opening quarter, and after the Irish got a Wade Britton basket for the first points of the game, the Bearcats ran off 15 straight points.
Irish point guard Jaidyn West got going in the second quarter, scoring 13 of his 15 first half points in the frame to help Notre Dame draw to within 38-29 at halftime.
When Britton scored 10 points in the third quarter, including three straight Irish field goals at one point, it allowed them to get as close as 48-47. Jacob Maier then responded with a three-pointer to send Grafton into the fourth with a 51-47 lead.
Delaney’s conventional three-point play began the fourth quarter scoring, but the Irish answered with 10 straight points to take a 57-54 lead.
But Grafton held West without a field goal and to two points in the final period, forcing the Irish to rely on getting offense elsewhere.
“It was back to give the ball to Jaidyn and hopefully he saves the day and we can’t win like that,” Irish coach Jarrod West said. “We didn’t deserve to win. They were the more physical better team, better coached, they played better and hit timely shots.”
“We talked about using our length to maybe give him some problems,” Johnson said of his team’s defensive approach on West. “He’s an elite player and shoots the ball well. Everything that they do goes through him and we knew that coming in. We kept throwing different bodies at him. I was just super proud of my kids.”
Moore’s 20 points led GHS, while Ryan Maier added 16, Justin Spiker scored 12 and JT Veltri contributed 10 to give the Bearcats four double figure scorers. Grafton also had four players — Maier, Moore, Delaney and Tanner Moats — record at least seven rebounds to finish with a 44-32 edge on the boards.
“We didn’t get a clean rebound all night,” Jarrod West said.
West led the Irish with 25 points and nine assists. Britton added 18 points and a team-high eight rebounds, while Kobe Martino scored 10.
Grafton also scored 12 more points than ND at the free throw line as the Irish made only 6-of-16 attempts.