BY RICH PALZEWIC
SPORTS EDITOR
SUAMICO – The one-two punch of Will Mahoney and Eli Vogel was too much for the Bay Port boys’ basketball team to handle.
The Appleton West seniors scored 28 and 18 points, respectively, in the Pirates’ 93-77 loss Nov. 24 at Bay Port High School.
The non-conference game was the opener for both squads.
“They had several good players, but Mahoney was the best player on the court tonight,” said Bay Port head coach Nate Rykal, whose team shot 41 percent from the field, while West shot a robust 55 percent. “He controlled the game and was really good. We tried to press and he really took advantage of it. It was the first varsity game for most of our guys. We have a lot of room for improvement – we can play a lot better than that. Appleton West is an experienced team with three starters coming back, so we can’t hang our heads. We just have to make some of our easier shots and relax.”
Chris Farrington led the Pirates with 17 points, while Ethan Begotka chipped in with 12. Logan Geissler tallied 10, and Logan Bruntz added nine.
“We had some guys that had good games,” Rykal added. “It was nice to see Logan Bruntz come off the bench and hit a few shots. I think a few of our guys were a little nervous with the start of the season.”
Bruntz missed all of last year with a back injury but hit a pair of three-pointers to highlight his evening.
The Terrors jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead and led 43-26 at one point, but the Pirates closed the half on a 9-2 run to trail just 45-35 at the break.
Sam Pitz also had a strong game for West, as he scored 15 points and pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds.
Sam Plumb, the younger brother of Jack, who is now playing football at Iowa, scored eight points and grabbed a team-high six rebounds to lead Bay Port.
The teams combined for 52 fouls, with the Pirates shooting 31 free throws and the Terrors 40.
“Defensively, we had some trouble stopping their dribble penetration, which led to some easy baskets on their end,” Rykal added. “We like to pressure people, but when they can handle the ball that well, we’ve got to learn to give a little better cushion so they don’t just blow right by us. We fouled a lot unnecessarily.”
Bay Port will next be in action Nov. 30 when they travel to Stevens Points for another non-conference game.
Box score
Appleton West: 45, 48 – 93
Bay Port: 35, 42 – 77
