Grant Lehmen has the green light.

No matter the situation or the score, the Wright City senior forward has the blessing of Wildcats’ coach Ken Brown to throw down a dunk if he gets the chance.

During the team’s 56-53 win at North Point, the team withstood a torrid start by the Grizzlies and, after Lehmen’s flush and subsequent technical foul, the visitors trailed by double digits.

The mood immediately changed as the Wildcats roared back from that point to earn the victory.

“It’s one of those things in high school basketball, dunks are going to bring a lot of energy,” Lehmen said. “Coach Brown just tells me to go up and dunk, dunk, dunk. I need to have that aggression. I got that one tonight and that’s exactly what we needed. It jump-started us.”

Lehmen’s dunk not only lifted the Wildcats, but it also sucked the air out of the gym after North Point’s torrid shooting start. Four first-quarter 3-pointers from North Point senior guard Jack Gibson helped the Grizzlies open a 22-10 lead after eight minutes.

A schematic change by Brown and the Wildcats put an end to that, though, as a box-and-one stymied Gibson and allowed Wright City to ride the wave of Lehmen’s dunk into the lead early in the third quarter.

Though the game was close throughout, once Wright City took the lead, the team wouldn’t trail again.

“It was huge,” said Brown of the adjustment. “I just called for it; they were the ones who made it work. That was one of the best games I’ve seen Lavarious Green play in a while, just blocking out and getting rebounds. It was a good team win for us. The dunk was a game-changer. He got the tech, and I loved (the dunk). It gave us energy.”

While Lehmen furnished the flash, it was Green – as Brown said – who supplied the substance with his team-high 18 points.

Wright City senior forward Kaiden Pilcher echoed his coach’s words about Lehmen’s pivotal play.

He said the energy was palpable after the play and he could feel the tide turn, even though Wright City trailed 31-27 at halftime.

“We knew that, even though they didn’t have a win yet, they’re a good team,” said Pilcher of North Point’s 0-20 mark. “We had to get the job done. After that dunk, everything became obvious to us. We knew what we had to do on both sides of the ball, and we were fired up to get it done.”

After Green’s effort, sophomore guard Kaveon Schulte scored 14, Pilcher pitched in 13 and

Lehmen rounded out the effort with nine important points.

While Gibson wound up with just a late 3-pointer to supplement his early barrage for 15 total points, North Point wound up being led by senior forward Jeremiah Mozee’s 19 points.

Brown said that with the team’s courtwarming game against Silex looming on Friday, he’s hopeful this win can bring with it plenty of momentum.

“Silex is a very good team,” Brown said. “This was an important win for us, though. You certainly feel this is the type of win that can carry momentum with it.”