By Rich Palzewic
Sports Editor
SUAMICO – The Bay Port boys’ basketball team is moving on in the WIAA Division 1 postseason after a 49-38 victory over De Pere March 1 at Bay Port High School.
The Pirates will head to Brookfield Central High School March 2 for the regional finals.
Bay Port used a 9-0 run to start the second half to turn a two-point deficit at the intermission into a seven-point lead, 26-19.
“We showed a lot of toughness to keep that second-half margin once we got it,” said Bay Port head coach Nate Rykal. “We contested a lot of shots defensively and nobody scored in double figures for them.”
It was the third time this season that the Pirates beat their Fox River Classic Conference rivals.
Bay Port (16-7) employed an aggressive 2-3 zone which made things difficult for the Redbirds.
“We knew Bay Port would run the 2-3 zone, so we practiced it all week,” said De Pere head coach Brian Winchester, whose team ended the season 14-9. “We didn’t come out in the second half with a lot of energy. We never got the spacing and movement against their zone correct. We looked good in practice, but it didn’t translate to the game.”
Logan Geissler (16) and Sam Plumb (10) were the only two Pirates in double figures.
“The funny thing is, I told Sam in practice this week that he was going to need to come out to the three-point line and make 2-of-6 threes. That’s what he was, too. It was great for him to make a few shots – it extended their defense.”
Plumb has stepped his game up recently, and he attributes that to being more aggressive.
“(Assistant coach Tom) Appel has been telling me to start attacking the glass and get more rebounds,” said the 6-foot-3 Plumb. “It also helps when Geissler is driving the lane and can kick the ball out to us for open shots.”
The teams slogged through a defensive struggle during the first half, with De Pere leading 19-17 at the break.
Bay Port shot 28 percent (6-of-21), while the Redbirds were only slightly better at 35 percent (5-of-14) during the first 18 minutes of play.
The Pirates ended the game shooting 18-of-44 (40 percent) due to their strong start to the second half.
Brad Nies scored nine points for De Pere, and Ethan Hohol added eight.
For the seniors Nies, Jack Coisman and Mason Ellis, they will be a hard trio to replace next season.
“When you have a 6-foot-7 kid like Brad who is a pretty good post scorer, he will have to replaced,” Winchester said. “I felt bad for Jack because he broke his foot in the middle of the year. For him to stick around the whole year and come back, especially with having a football scholarship next year, I’m proud of him. Mason came a long way in his high school career. He became a really productive player for us this year.”
Box score
De Pere: 19, 19 – 38
Bay Port: 17, 32 – 49
Redbirds (38): Jake Kinziger 6, Will Dehn 6, Mason Ellis 2, Ethan Hohol 8, Ben Basten 3, Seth Andrews 2, Jack Coisman 2, Brad Nies 9.
Pirates (49): Ethan Begotka 8, Jake Plummer 2, Gunnar DeCleene 4, Cole Weber 2, Andrew Thomas 4, Logan Geissler 16, Sam Plumb 10, Chris Steffes 3.