HANNAH HASSLER PHOTOS

BY RICH PALZEWIC
CORRESPONDENT

SUAMICO – The Bay Port girls’ basketball team avenged one of its three losses on the season with a 65-39 Fox River Classic Conference victory over Sheboygan North Jan. 26 at Bay Port High School.

In a Dec. 12 loss to the Golden Raiders (9-7 overall, 6-6 FRCC) in Sheboygan, the Pirates (12-3, 9-2) lost a 67-46 game.

“We played really well off the bat,” said Bay Port head coach Kati Coleman, whose team jumped out to a 24-5 lead and cruised from there. “We have been stressing that we need to use warm-up time for warm ups, not the first half. I think we capitalized where we needed to. We made quite a few shots and didn’t force a lot, which was nice to see.”

With two losses in conference, the Pirates sit tied atop the FRCC with Notre Dame with six games to go. Bay Port was picked to finish seventh in the preseason FRCC poll.

Four Bay Port players – McKenzie Johnson (16), Peyton Coughlin (12), Alaina Abel (12) and Emma Nagel (11) – all scored in double digits, while Mady Draak added eight points for the Pirates, who shot a blistering 53 percent from the field on 27-of-51 shooting.

Coughlin – who had 14 points in Bay Port’s 79-34 victory over Sheboygan South Jan. 23 – hit a pair of three pointers, while Johnson connected on three.

“Playing on a team that has so much talent, it makes it easy for me to get open and hit big shots,” said the junior Coughlin, who is shooting 73 percent from the field (11-for-15) in her last three games. “My teammates and I continue to support each other so we all can remain confident, as we push for a conference title.”

The Pirates committed 17 turnovers, but forced 27 from North.

“We turned (North) over quite a few times and scored off their mistakes,” added Coleman. “There were still a few too many turnovers for my liking. We need to clean some things up and keep moving forward.”

Bay Port returns to FRCC action on Tuesday, Jan. 30, when they host Manitowoc Lincoln in a 7:00 game.