By Rich Palzewic
Sports Editor
GREEN BAY – Round two between the Bay Port and Green Bay Preble girls’ basketball teams again went the Pirates’ way.
Behind balanced scoring and a momentum-changing shot, Bay Port defeated the Hornets in Fox River Classic Conference action at Preble High School Jan. 21, 52-41.
With No. 1-ranked Bay Port (14-0 overall, 10-0 FRCC) clinging to a 38-34 lead in the second half after a 10-1 Preble scoring surge, junior reserve Sophie Vandeyacht nailed a three-pointer from the right-wing to bump the lead back to seven.
“I get in the game and wait for the passes from my teammates in the lane,” said Vandeyacht. “I stand by the three-point line and shoot my shots from there. I know three-point shots get the team going.”
After Vandeyacht’s bucket, the Pirates scored 11 of the next 13 points to increase their lead to 52-36.
“Sophie has proven herself,” said Bay Port head coach Kati Coleman. “She seems to come in and hit big shots when we need them. She’ll grab rebounds, take charges and tip passes – lots of things the common fan won’t see. She wants to be on the court and has been working hard in practice to earn playing time.”
The Hornets (10-4, 7-3) trailed 37-24 five minutes into the second half, but junior guard Carley Duffney, who had a game-high 21 points, scored six points in the Preble run to get her team back in the game.
Preble head coach Jim Doell gave a quick response to why his team failed to secure the victory.
“We didn’t shoot well, and we picked a bad night to be off,” he said.
The Hornets shot 33 percent from the field overall and 2-of-20 from beyond the arc.
Things were tight early in the game, with the Pirates leading 20-19 minutes before halftime.
Bay Port went on a 10-2 to close the half for a 30-21 advantage at the break.
McKenzie Johnson drained a trio of three-pointers in the opening half for the Pirates.
Krueger added six rebounds, five steals, three assists and a block.
“This team has gone through so much more adversity this year than my last five years of coaching in only a half a season,” Coleman said. “We’ve had lots of injuries and sickness, so to see them come together and have fun again tonight, it was fun to be a part of.”
Emma Krueger, Alaina Abel, Raegan McIntyre and Johnson all scored nine points apiece for the Pirates.
“It’s nice to be able to know everyone on the team can score,” said Coleman. “You have to guard each girl because if you don’t, she’ll score on you. We still need to clean up some things on the offensive end to help score, but we don’t want to peak right now.”
Kendall Renard and Taylor Sleger each scored eight points for the Hornets.
“The team executed the defensive plan perfectly,” Coleman said. “Renard is a heck of a player and can do lots of damage on the inside. The girls worked on what we needed to in practice and did a heck of a job. Now if we could only figure out how to guard Duffney.”