By Rich Palzewic
Sports Editor
SUAMICO – It’s relatively easy getting to No. 1, but staying there is the hard part.
With the Bay Port girls’ basketball team winning the WIAA Division 1 state championship last spring, the Pirates are hoping for a repeat performance this season.
“We think about the state championship often,” said head coach Kati Coleman, whose team finished 27-1 in 2018-19. “It’s a moment we won’t forget and can’t be taken away from us.”
Bay Port beat Kimberly in the state semifinals (63-53) before dispatching Middleton in the finals (50-49) on Emma Nagel’s last-second shot.
“You have to act like it’s a new season,” Coleman said. “I’m excited for the girls and what they did, but it’s a completely different team with different dynamics. The Fox River Classic Conference is stronger than it was last year. Unfortunately, 2019 doesn’t mean much right now.”
The Pirates have all their main cogs back: Seniors Alaina Abel, Mady Draak, McKenzie Johnson, Raegan McIntyre and Nagel and sophomore Emma Krueger.
Abel, Johnson and Nagel were also members of the 2018 state championship soccer team.
The top six returning players bring back more than 52 points a game scoring.
“Emma Krueger is a worker,” said Coleman. “I half-joke with her she probably sleeps with a basketball. She’s gotten better and is always in the gym.”
Bay Port will have to replace two quality players in Grace Krause and Peyton Coughlin, who were lost to graduation.
“Grace was so strong defensively and will be hard to replace,” said Coleman. “Peyton could play inside or step outside and hit the three. It’s hard to say if we are deeper than last season. The players coming back are stronger, and the juniors have the potential to fill the void.”
The Pirates’ sectional bracket will be full of talented teams trying to make it to the Resch Center in Green Bay next March for the state tournament.
“Our conference will be tough, but our sectional will be extremely difficult,” Coleman said. “De Pere is always tough, Kimberly is in our bracket and Green Bay Preble will be good. You will have some dark horses in there, too. It won’t be a cakewalk. Regional finals and sectional games will be competitive.”
Coleman said she is glad her team has a pair of difficult non-conference games to begin the season before entertaining Preble Dec. 6.
“Playing Hortonville and New Berlin Eisenhower will be good for us to prepare for the conference season,” she said. “Your non-conference games do matter, and those two games will give us a good indication of where we are.”
Bay Port has the same goals as last year.
“We want to be better than last year,” said a smiling Coleman. “We won the conference and won state, so how can we be better? It’s the little things – taking care of the ball, having fewer turnovers and limited teams to fewer points. It helps our core players are back.”