BY RICH PALZEWIC
SPORTS EDITOR
SUAMICO – The Bay Port boys’ basketball team was playing without two starters in its game against Green Bay Southwest Dec. 14.
The Pirates hung with the No. 4-ranked Trojans (Division 2) for a half, but a cold spell from the floor after intermission spelled doom in a 69-50 Fox River Classic Conference loss at Bay Port High School.
It was the first time Southwest beat the Pirates in the FRCC era, which dates back to 2007.
Tied at 34 at the beginning of the second half, the Trojans (5-0 overall, 3-0 FRCC) went on a 29-5 run to blow the game open and give Bay Port (3-2, 2-1) their first conference loss of the season.
The Pirates were outscored 38-20 in the second half.
“We did hang tough for a half,” said Bay Port head coach Nate Rykal. “We have a deep bench. We missed some easy shots during their run and we got a little tight in shooting it.”
Bay Port was playing without Logan Geissler and Andrew Thomas, who are averaging a combined 13.4 points per game.
“I thought we handled that part really well,” Rykal said about the missing starters. “We didn’t come into the game feeling sorry for ourselves – we have to play. You almost have to play like you’re in foul trouble and others have to step up. I thought we did that in the first half.”
The Pirates didn’t shoot the ball well from the floor compared to Southwest. Bay shot just 31 percent, while the Trojans blistered the nets at a 50-percent clip.
There was also a huge discrepancy from the free-throw line, with Southwest hitting 21-29 and Bay Port just 3-6.
“Southwest went to the basket hard and got the calls,” Rykal added. “We have to be better at doing that – we didn’t go hard to the basket.”
Will Pytleski had a huge game for the Trojans with his 20 points and 19 rebounds, while Lucas Stieber added 17. Carson Landry and Ian Way each chipped in with 10.
Sam Plumb and Christian Kozak led the Pirates with nine points apiece, with Chris Farrington adding eight.
Plumb and Ethan Begotka each grabbed eight rebounds.
Box score
Green Bay Southwest: 31, 38 – 69
Bay Port: 30, 20 – 50