Boys Basketball: Gillett hangs on late to earn M&O win

GILLETT — The Gillett High School boys basketball team built a big lead in the first half before holding on in the waning seconds to earn its first Marinette and Oconto Conference win of the season.

Gillett earned a 58-51 victory over Niagara.

The Tigers looked like they could do no wrong in the early portion of the game, jumping out to a 10-0 before working out to a 26-10 lead with under five minutes to go in the first half.

Gillett built the lead behind strong defense, forcing several errant passes and turnovers which were turned into some easy points on offense.

The duo of senior Logan Block and freshman Derek Block carried the load for the Tigers on offense, accounting for 20 of the team’s first 26 points.

“We transitioned, we helped well on the back side and we switched to some different defenses,” said Logan Block on what worked well defensively in the first half.

Logan Block scored the host’s first field goal before Derek Block took over. The freshman knocked down a pair of free throws before walking into a pair of 3-pointers to give the hosts a 10-0 lead less than four minutes in.

Wanting back in on the fun, Logan Block scored 10 of the team’s next 16 points. Senior Elijah Framnes scored four of the points, while senior Wyatt Herzog had the other two.

“It was a lot of fastbreak points,” said Logan Block of the team’s fast offensive start. “A lot of steals, a lot of pushing the ball.”

Just when Gillett looked to be on its way to a lopsided win, the Tigers’ offense went cold.

After scoring 26 points in about 13 minutes, Gillett went scoreless in the final five minutes of the half to allow Niagara to creep back into the contest.

Gillett’s offensive drought carried over to the second half, as the visiting Badgers were able to cut their deficit to three, 31-28, just five minutes into the half.

The Tigers found new life after back-to-back 3-pointers from Framnes and Herzog and a bucket from Logan Block to go back up 11, but then Logan Block was called for his fourth foul, keeping him out of the game from the 10:10 mark to the 6:29 mark.

Gillett was able to pretty much match Niagara with the senior off the floor, and then went up 51-37 with just over four minutes to play.

Niagara again showed resiliency, scoring 12 straight points to make it 51-49 with under a minute-and-a-half to go.

It was Derek Block that stepped up for Gillett, taking over the game just like he had in the opening minutes. The freshman hit five free throws and added a late bucket to help the hosts to the final buzzer.

“The guys are good friends away from the court. Everybody wants to see everyone else on the team do well and I think the guys wanted to win — we needed a win,” said Gillett coach Russ Long on what allowed the team to hang on for the win. “We had a tough game at Oneida (Nation) on Tuesday (Dec. 10) and we needed to get back on track. You don’t want to start 0-3 in your conference.”

Logan Block scored 21 points in the game to lead Gillett, while Derek Block added 19. Framnes posted nine points and Herzog chipped in seven.

The Tigers were playing without senior Anthony Carroll, one of the team’s top scorers.

“(This game) shows us that there’s always room for improvement,” said Derek Block. “There’s many mistakes we can fix but I’m thinking we’re going to do good this year.”

Gillett will host Bowler on Tuesday in its next scheduled matchup.

Niagara 19 32 — 51

Gillett 26 32 — 58

Gillett (58): Wyatt Herzog 2-4 7, Jack Baer 2-2 2, Derek Block 7-11 19, Logan Block 5-6 21, Elijah Framnes 0-0 9.

Niagara (51): Dawson Lincoln 7-14 11, Tristan DeJardin 0-0 8, Joshua Weber 5-6 13, Logan Bath 2-2 7, Sladen Dunlap 0-3 12.

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