By Rich Palzewic
Sports Editor
MANITOWOC – Bay Port girls’ basketball player Raegan McIntyre has been an unsung hero for the Pirates all season.
When her team needed her the most, she came through in the biggest way possible.
McIntyre’s driving layup with 4 seconds remaining in overtime propelled Bay Port to a 26-24 victory over Arrowhead in the WIAA Division 1 sectional finals March 1 at Manitowoc Lincoln High School.
The Pirates (25-1) will play Friday, March 8, in the evening semifinal session at the Resch Center in Green Bay.
Spanning the last few minutes of regulation and the overtime period, McIntyre scored the final five points of the game for Bay Port.
“It was all such a blur,” said the junior McIntyre of her last shot. “When I had the ball at the top of the key, I glanced up at the clock and saw there were 11 seconds left. I saw an opening down the right side of the lane and went hard to the basket. All the hard work we’ve put in this season flashed before my eyes. I still can’t believe I made it.”
The Warhawks’ final desperation shot from midcourt came up short, sending the Pirates to the state tournament for the first time since 2000.
“That kind of reminded me of a third-grade game at times,” laughed Bay Port head coach Kati Coleman. “If you would have told me it would be that low scoring, I would have said ‘no way’ – maybe at the half or even 10 minutes into the game but not after 40 minutes. I am so proud of these girls.”
The win avenged a loss to Arrowhead (19-7) in last season’s sectional finals.
The first time the teams met earlier this season at the Middleton Holiday Shootout, the Pirates won a 59-55 triple-overtime contest.
“It was only fitting that this game went into overtime, Coleman said. “It was an exciting game to be a part of. I’m just glad we came out on top.”
After holding the ball for nearly the last 3 minutes of regulation, Bay Port missed a pair of free throws with 15 seconds remaining, giving the Warhawks a final chance.
Good defense by the Pirates forced the game to the extra session.
With 5 minutes of time put on the clock, the teams played 2 minutes before the officials realized there was only supposed to be 4 minutes of overtime.
After a brief conference, a minute was taken off the clock.
“That was interesting,” Coleman said. “There was just a little confusion, but since neither team had scored any points in the overtime so far, it made sense to just take a minute off the clock.”
Bay Port led 19-18 at the intermission, so only 13 combined points were scored between the teams in the last 22 minutes of the game.
With both teams mainly employing a zone defense, there were large chunks of time when the ball was held near midcourt.
The Pirates jumped out to a 17-7 lead halfway through the first half, but that’s when Arrowhead went on an 11-2 run to close the first 18 minutes of play.
The Warhawks’ run correlated with their switch to zone defensively and Bay Port’s Emma Nagel picking up her second foul with 6 minutes to go.
The Warhawks’ first points of the game didn’t come until the 5:20 mark.
Much like the first half, Arrowhead couldn’t find the hoop to start the second half, going 9:16 before they finally scored a point.
Box score
Arrowhead: 18, 6, 0 – 24
Bay Port: 19, 5, 2 – 26