Austin Hemmingson | Daily Press North Central’s Griffin Johnson (right) squares up with the ball as he is being guarded by Norway’s Jeffrey VanHolla (left) Thursday at Powers. Johnson scored 17 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Jets to a 53-51 comeback win.

POWERS — Sometimes a good pep talk can light a fire under a team when they need one, which was certainly the case for the North Central boys’ basketball team here Thursday. After scoring just nine points in the first half, the Jets erupted for 44 second half points to come from behind and beat Norway 53-51 in a Skyline Central Conference contest.

Griffin Johnson was the catalyst for the comeback, scoring all 19 of his points in the second half, including 17 in the fourth quarter.

“We were a little down in the locker room at halftime,” Johnson said. “Coach (Mike Malone) gave us a pep talk and we came out with more energy in the second half. We got a couple quick buckets and that got us going.”

Johnson hit three three-pointers in the last 4:22 of the game, including back-to-back triples with 2:18 left to tie the game at 43.

“I have to give my teammates credit for getting me open,” Johnson said. “I give them all the credit. Any one of the 10 guys on our team can hit those shots but tonight it just happened to be me.”

Johnson’s three-pointers came after the Knights (2-3) had gone up 43-37 with 3:14 left on a three-point play by Jeffrey VanHolla.

The Jets (7-1) took their first lead on a putback layup by Brady Eichmeier with 1:39 to go to make it 45-43. Johnson added a jumper to extend the lead to four before the Knights fought back.

After Johnson converted two free throws to make it 49-45 with 28 seconds remaining, Norway’s Trey Doda hit a three to close the gap to one with 12 seconds left. The Knights were forced to foul and sent Johnson to the line, He made both free throws.

On their ensuing possession, Nathan Paulitch got an open look at a three from the right corner but the shot bounced off the rim, effectively ending the game.

Eichmeier made two free throws with two seconds left before VanHolla hit a three from just inside mid-court at the buzzer to make it 53-51.

“I have to give Griffin Johnson a lot of credit,” Knights’ coach Jeff Gallino said. “He had a heck of a night and made some huge shots for them.”

It was a frustrating night for the Knights, who began the game on a 10-0 run and led 20-9 at the half.

“I thought we really crashed the boards hard in the first half,” Gallino said. “In the second half, they (Jets) just made some shots.

“We need to play smarter down the stretch. We had poor spacing and just made some bad decisions. It’s early in the season and we haven’t had a ton of situations like this so we have a long way to go.”

It was a tale of two halves for the Jets. They managed just three three points in the first quarter, which came on a three by Brien Gronmark with 1:17 left. They only had three field goals the entire first half — all three-pointers.

“We focus and rest our laurels on playing good defense, rebounding, and playing with tempo,” Malone said. “We did not do any of those things in the first half. At halftime, I reminded them of that in a very loud, passionate way.”

Malone was happy with the way his team responded.

“I thought we played much better in the second half,” he said. “Griffin (Johnson) started to take over in a leadership role, which was good to see.

“Their (Knights) defense was really good. They rebounded well and crashed the boards harder than us in the first half. We have to play better in the first half. You’re not going to win many games only playing one good half of basketball.”

Malone is hoping this game can be a stepping stone for his team going forward.

“We only scored nine points in the first half and still won,” he said. “That momentum shift of coming back and winning this game is huge for us going into the break.”

Johnson led the Jets with 19 points and Eichmeier added 10.

Doda and Mitchell LeGrave each scored 14 points for Norway, while VanHolla added 12.

The Knights won the jayvee game 40-37.

North Central resumes action Jan. 3 when it hosts Stephenson.

Norway 12 8 11 20 — 51

N. Central 3 6 15 29 — 53

Norway — Doda 14, LeGrave 14, VanHolla 12, Hendricks 8, Bray 3. F: 19; FT: 7-12; Fouled out: None. 3-point field goals: Doda, VanHolla.

North Central — Johnson 19, Eichmeier 10, Holle 8, N. Gorzinski 7, Gronmark 3, Hanchek 3, I. Gorzinski 3. F: 18; FT: 12-16; Fouled out: None. 3-point field goals: Johnson 3, Holle 2, Gronmark, Hanchek, N. Gorzinski, I. Gorzinski.