Staff Photo by Jake Olson: Granada Huntley East Chain/Truman/Martin Luther's Brody Grathwohl fires a 3-pointer over the reaching arms of Jackson Wilmes on Martin County West during the second half of Saturday afternoon's contest held at Trimont.

TRIMONT – It just took one shot. One shot to spark a Granada Huntley East Chain/Truman/Martin Luther boys basketball offense that had struggled to find any sort of rhythm during the first half of Saturday’s contest against Martin County West.

Eli Jensen followed his four free throw makes with a deep 3-pointer with under 14 minutes to play in the game, chipping the Maverick lead to under 10 points, 37-28, for the first time since the final moments of the initial half.

The Jaguars (5-15) closed the game on a 34-10 scoring run, nailing five more outside shots to propel past MCW (2-19) in a 62-47 comeback victory at the Martin County West Elementary gymnasium. This win snapped a previous seven-game skid for the GHEC/T/ML.

Brody Grathwohl led all GHEC/T/ML scorers with 16 points, nailing five field goals and six free throws to power the effort. Jensen and Reagan Emmert’s strong second-half performances charged their 13 and 10-point scoring efforts, with Emmert nailing all three of his outside shots during the final 18 minutes of the contest.

For the Mavericks, it was Chase Owens leading the team with a 12-point, 10-rebound and four-assist effort in the stat sheet. Brycen Kettner notched 10 points and seven rebounds to join his teammate in double figures.

Saturday’s contest was also game one of the Karson Janssen Memorial Hoops for Heart double header in Trimont, with the girls’ teams following about 35 minutes after the final buzzer.

GHEC/T/ML head coach Bryan Nowicki’s team found themselves down 35-21 at the halftime buzzer, only making six field goals, one of which was from behind the arc.

“You can’t shoot bad for two halves, hopefully,” Nowicki said jokingly after the game. “I mean, you can, but hopefully it will turn around.”

MCW found its biggest lead of the game with over two minutes remaining in the first half following a handful of crisp offensive possessions. Caiden Loken drilled a corner 3 on a kickout before Jackson Wilmes wiggled his way into the paint for a floater on the next possession, putting his team up 26-16.

Landen Winter finished the half off with a near buzzer-beating elbow jump shot that gave MCW a 14-point edge. Everything was working for head coach Phillip Rotunda’s team on both sides of the court.

“Our main gameplan was to keep being active throughout and use the crowd’s energy,” Rotunda said. “We hit multiple 3’s there in that first half to have that big lead. We were able to have a good flow on the offense, too.”

The GHEC/T/ML offense never looked back following Jensen’s scoring surge to start the second half. Emmert drilled consecutive outside shots to continuously chip into the deficit. Four possessions later, Lane Kruse received Ethan Jaskulke’s interior pass to rain in a 3-pointer of his own, bringing the game to a one-possession, 42-39, affair with under 10 minutes to play.

Grathwohl converted on a put-back layup before finding Emmert for his final 3-pointer of the game, giving the Jaguars a 49-46 advantage with six minutes to go. This was the first lead GHEC/T/ML held throughout the entire contest.

Nowicki’s team finished things off scoring 13 of the game’s 14 points to secure the victory. Grathwohl scored eight of his points during this stretch, including a game-sealing steal and layup finish to deliver the final blow.

GHEC/T/ML travels to Windom Area this Friday, while the Mavericks are at St. James Area on Tuesday.