Staff Photo by Jake Olson: GHEC/T/ML's Reagan Emmert pushes the ball in transition during the second half of Friday night's contest against Martin County West at Truman High School. The Jaguars outpaced the Mavericks 44-21 in the second half to secure their first victory of the season.

TRUMAN – Granada Huntley East Chain/Truman/Martin Luther boys basketball coach Bryan Nowicki knows defense always travels. During his first weeks at the helm of the program, Nowicki and his staff have emphasized ball pressure, tenacity, and controlled aggression on that side of the court.

This philosophy was evident on Friday night’s 64-39 victory over Martin County West at Truman High School, as the Jaguars held their opponent to 21 second-half points en route to the team’s first win of the season.

“A rivalry game is just a battle all the time,” Nowicki said. “It starts with the defensive end. We can control that, and that’s what I have been trying to implement to these guys for the first three weeks of the season.”

Senior Brody Grathwohl and sophomore Ethan Jaskulke fueled a Jaguars offense that strung together 44 points during the second half. Grathwohl nailed seven 3-pointers to jumpstart his 27-point scoring output, while Jaskulke’s 18 points wreaked havoc for the Mavericks’ defense in the interior.

Martin County West junior Chase Ownes led the team in scoring with 16. Senior point guard Lixon Forsberg chipped in nine points with two steals.

Offense was hard to come by on either side of the court during the game’s first 18 minutes of play. Both teams created turnovers, forced rugged looks, and drew long possessions that went close to ringing the 35-second shot clock.

Senior Reagan Emmert gave the Jaguars their most significant lead of the first half after knocking down a 3-pointer and two free throws that gave his team a 17-12 advantage with 5:47 left to play.

But after Martin County West junior Landen Winter’s putback layup, the Jaguars found themselves up just 20-18 heading into the break.

“I told them in the first half, the one thing we can control is defense, and they [MCW] really locked down defensively,” Nowicki said. “It was a good first-half battle … But I said, ‘Guys, keep shooting, and the ball will fall.'”

An immediate Grathwohl steal and transition 3-pointer opened the floodgates for the entire GHEC/T/ML team to begin the second half. Following a Maverick shot clock violation, Jaskulke and Grathwohl traded baskets to give the Jaguars a 31-22 lead.

Grathwohl drained another outside shot following a timeout from Martin County West head coach Phillip Rotunda to push the advantage further. An Emmert pass to a back-cutting Elijah Jensen in transition, found two more for GHEC/T/ML, finishing a 10-0 scoring surge with 13 minutes remaining, generating its largest lead of the night.

“Lucky for us, Brody Grathwohl got hot for us in the second half,” Nowicki said. “Once one goes through that hoop, it gets bigger, and then the confidence is there. And again, don’t force it, but if you are open, shoot it.”

Jaskulke put on the finishing touches during the remaining two minutes. The sophomore followed a layup with an emphatic 3-point play to deliver a 59-39 advantage during the game’s final moments.

“Hopefully, he will get some confidence,” Nowicki said. “He’s always been tall for his age. On the B and C squads, he was always bigger than everyone else, so he could always go over the top. Well now, he has guys the same size, so we have been working hard in practice.”

GHEC/T/ML (1-2) will play at Madelia next Thursday in hopes of sustaining some success. Martin County West (0-3) hosts Nicollet on Monday, still looking for its first win of the young season. Both games are set to start at 7 p.m.