BY RICH PALZEWIC
CORRESPONDENT

DE PERE – It was too little too late for the Bay Port girls’ basketball team Dec. 30.

The Pirates came up just short in a 62-59 non-conference road loss to the West De Pere Phantoms in front of a loud and boisterous holiday crowd.

Bay Port trailed 48-37 with six minutes remaining, but scored 22 of the next 34 points to pull within 60-59. Two free throws by West De Pere’s Brehna Evans provided the final margin of victory.

After Evans’ free throws, the Pirates’ Reagan McIntyre got a clean look at the basket from 30 feet away for a game-tying three-point attempt, but her shot bounced off the front rim as time expired.

It was Bay Port’s sixth consecutive road game. The team’s last home contest was Dec. 5, but they will return home Jan. 5 when they host FRCC rival Pulaski – exactly a month since they last played in front of their home crowd.

“We took a handful of steps backwards,” said Bay Port head coach Kati Coleman. “You play the way we did against De Pere (in a Dec. 28, 64-39 win) and then come out with a performance like we did against West De Pere – that just can’t happen. Maybe my expectations are too high now because I was able to see what their potential is and want to build off that. I can’t be happy about how we came back because it shouldn’t have gotten to that point.”

The Pirates had difficulty taking care of the ball in the opening 18 minutes of the game, but trailed just 29-24 at the break. At one point Bay Port trailed 19-10, but eventually tied the game at 22 before the Phantoms closed the half with a 7-2 run.

Sophomores Mady Draak and Emma Nagel each poured in 17 points for the Pirates, while Nagel grabbed a game-high 16 rebounds. McIntyre added 12 points and 7 rebounds.

“Mady and Emma played really well,” added Coleman. “Emma left it on the court. We have been pushing Mady to be more of a scorer and she’s doing that very well. I can be happy about those two things.”

Bay Port committed 25 turnovers and forced 22 of its own.

Both teams shot a respectable percentage from the field, but the Pirates were just 1-of-9 from beyond the arc, while West De Pere was 7-of-13. Another big difference was from the charity stripe where the Phantoms shot 90 percent (17-of-19) compared to Bay Port’s 67 percent (14-of-21).

The Pirates had difficulty in stopping the dynamic duo of Evans and Samantha Carriveau, who had 25 and 23 points respectively.

Bay Port: 24, 35 – 59
West De Pere: 29, 33 – 62