By Rich Palzewic
Sports Editor
GREEN BAY – Many would say it’s a surprise the Bay Port girls’ basketball team is returning to the WIAA Division 1 state tournament at the Resch Center in Green Bay this weekend.
Head coach Kati Coleman is not one of them.
“The girls have worked hard to get back to this point,” said Coleman. “We’ve faced lots of adversity and had a target on our backs all season, but they’ve worked through everything. Our difficult non-conference and FRCC [Fox River Classic Conference] opponents will help us at state.”
Bay Port, the No. 4-ranked Division 1 team in the state, is the defending state champ and comes into the state tournament with a 24-2 record.
Winners of the FRCC for the third straight season, the Pirates earned the No. 2 seed behind Middleton (25-1), the top-ranked team in the state.
Bay Port will play Divine Savior Holy Angels (DSHA) Friday, March 13, at 8 p.m. in the semifinals.
If the Pirates win their semifinal game, they’d play the winner of the Middleton/Oconomowoc game Saturday, March 14, at 8 p.m. for the title.
Bay Port has been without the services of all-state player Emma Nagel for all but five games this season.
Nagel, a Division I college soccer commit to the Drake University, tore the posterior cruciate ligament in her right knee Dec. 17 and hasn’t played since.
“Emma is a fabulous player,” said Coleman. “When she first went down, our play was back and forth for a few games because we didn’t know her status. When she went down, I said to myself, ‘Oh my gosh, what are we going to do?’ Other girls have stepped up in the place of Emma. They wanted to prove one person wasn’t the whole team.”
Seniors McKenzie Johnson (13.6 points per game), Mady Draak (9.4), Alaina Abel (8.8) and Raegan McIntyre (6.4) and sophomore Emma Krueger (12) have all seen their play improve since Nagel went down.
Johnson, an all-state selection this season, is hitting her three-pointers at a 48.3-percent clip.
Krueger scored 48 points combined in two regional games and is averaging 15.8 points per outing in her last nine games.
The Pirates easily handled DSHA (23-3) in a New Year’s Eve non-conference game this past December at Bay Port High School, 72-59.
Holding a four-point lead at halftime, the Pirates began the second half with an 18-1 run and led by 22 points at one point.
“We pride ourselves on our defense,” said Coleman, whose team is holding opponents to an average of 35 points per game this season. “DSHA is a tough team. They press the whole game, and they fight to the end. They have four or five girls who come off the bench who are the same as the starters. It’s hard to focus on one player, and they have no weak links. We have to handle their pressure. We can’t get into a footrace with them.”
DSHA, which enters the state tournament with a nine-game winning streak, is led in points by Jadin O’Brien (13.8) and Alyah Garcia (10.6).
Six other players on the team are scoring five points or more per contest.
DSHA head coach Brian Hendricks said he is impressed by the Pirates.
“The New Year’s Eve game came down to the first five minutes of the second half,” he said. “We weren’t able to adjust to their zone, and they raced out to the big lead. We fought back but ran out of time. Coach Coleman had her players ready to go. They are athletic and have state experience.”
To view the state tournament schedule, CLICK HERE.