By Murray Gleffe
Correspondent
ASHWAUBENON — The Bay Port girls’ basketball team has played four Fox River Classic Conference games this season and outscored its opponents by a combined 124 points.
The Pirates showed no signs of letting up in defeating Ashwaubenon 57-25 Dec. 19 at Ashwaubenon High School.
Bay Port (6-0 overall, 4-0 FRCC) was led by McKenzie Johnson’s 17 points.
Mady Draak added 14.
“I felt like we contained their post players well tonight,” said Bay Port head coach Kati Coleman. “The talk was to make them shoot it from the outside and help in the post.”
Emma Nagel, who entered the game averaging 10.2 points per game, didn’t play for the Pirates due to a bone bruise.
She is listed as day-to-day.
The Jaguars (2-5, 0-4) were paced by Lydia Schaible’s eight points.
The Pirates jumped out to a 9-0 lead behind two Johnson triples and a conventional three-point play by Draak.
“We knew we had to step up with Emma being out,” said Johnson. “My teammates got me some space and luckily the shots fell tonight.”
A few minutes into the contest, starting Ashwaubenon point guard Kally VanLaanen suffered an ankle injury and did not return.
Brenna Schlader hit Ashwaubenon’s first field goal of the night seconds later to cut into Bay Port’s lead.
Bay Port slowly build its lead after going on a 15-4 run.
The spurt gave the Pirates a 26-9 advantage near the end of the first half.
During the surge, Raegen McIntyre hit two jump shots and grabbed three offensive rebounds to spark Bay Port.
Despite the double-digit lead, Coleman wasn’t pleased at times with the fluidity of her team’s offense.
“We looked a bit slow on certain sets,” Coleman said. “Whether it be close to the holidays or what, we were a step slow reacting and getting shots off.”
With a 15-point halftime margin (26-11), the Pirates showed why they are the No. 1 ranked Division 1 team in the state according to the latest Wissports.Net coaches’ poll.
Bay Port ripped off a 20-7 run early in the second half to take an insurmountable 46-18 lead with 5:45 left in the game.
Both teams leaned on reserves down the stretch.
“We know we are a big target when we take the court against an opponent,” Johnson said. “In knowing we have to play a step better, each one of us stays after practice to prepare for what needs to be done to continue the success.”
Box score
Bay Port: 26, 31—57
Ashwaubenon: 11,14—25
Pirates: Johnson 17, Draak 14, McIntyre 7, E. Krueger 5, Van De Yacht 5, Abel 4, M. Krueger 3, Boehm 2.
Jaguars: Schaible 8, Schlader 7, Marohl 6, Severson 2, Kunesh 2.